
JOA-N LISTENING TO THE VOICES 



ST. JOAN OF ARC 

THE LIFE-STORY OF THE 
MAID OF ORLEANS 



BY 

REV. DENIS LYNCH, S.J. 

Author of "The Story of the Acts of the Apostles" 




New York, Cincinnati, Chicago 

BENZIGER BROTHERS 

PUBLISHERS OF I PRINTERS TO THE 

BENZIGER's magazine I HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE 

1919 



inC(D3 



A. GYR, S.J., 

Sup. Reg. Missionis Bonhbayensis. 



Nilytt ©bBtat 



ARTHUR J. SCANLAN, S.T.D., 

Censor Librorum. 



3mpt\m&itxt. 



4- PATRICK J. HAYES, D.D., 

Archbishop of New York. 



New Yohk, July 28, 1919. 



COPTBIGHT, 1919, BT BENZIGEB BROTHERS 



)CI.A5362.J8 



r.f •■ '^_\j I o I ■ 



JOAN OF ARC 

* *r|iHE name and fame of Jeanne d'Arc are 
A <in the catalogue of common things,' like 
the rainbow ; of things so familiar that an effort 
of the imagination is needed before we can ap- 
preciate the unique position of the Maid in his- 
tory. The story of her career, as one of her 
learned French historians has said, 'is the most 
marvelous episode in our history, and in all his- 
tories.' 

' ' She was the consummation and ideal of two 
noble human efforts toward perfection. The 
peasant's daughter was the Flower of Chivalry, 
brave, gentle, merciful, courteous, kind, and 
loyal. Later poets and romance-writers de- 
lighted to draw the figure of the Lady-Knight; 
but Spenser and Ariosto could not create, 
Shakespeare could not imagine, such a being as 
Jeanne d'Arc. 

*'She was the most perfect daughter of her 
Church; to her its Sacraments were the very 
Bread of Life ; her conscience, by frequent con- 
fession, was kept fair and pure as the lilies of 
Paradise. In a tragedy without parallel or 
precedent the Flower of Chivalry died for 
France and the chivalry of France, which had 
deserted her; she died by the chivalry of Eng- 
land, which shamefully entreated and destroyed 
her; while the most faithful of Christians per- 

i 



11 JOAN OF ARC 

ished through the ' celestial science ' and dull po- 
litical hatred of priests who impudently called 
themselves ' the Church ! ' 

*'She came with powers and with genius 
which should be the marvel of the world while 
the world stands. She redeemed a nation ; she 
wrought such works as seemed to her people, 
and well might seem, miraculous. Yet even 
among her own people, even now, her glory is 
not uncontested." 

Andrew Lang. 

The Maid of France. Introduction. 

' * Such is the power of this story, such its tyr- 
anny over the heart, its magnetism to draw 
tears, that, well or ill told, it will ever make the 
hearer weep, be he young or old, chilled by the 
growing years or steeled by the hardness of 
life. Let no one blush for tears like these, for 
their cause is fair. No recent sorrow, no per- 
sonal affliction of any kind, may so justly thrill 
an upright heart. 

"By roads infested with brigands she tra- 
verses France; she wins the court of Charles 
VII ; she throws herself into the war ; and in the 
camps which she had never before seen, in the 
combats which she had never shared, she is sur- 
prised at nothing. She rushes intrepidly into 
the midst of the fray; she is wounded, but she 
never wavers; she animates the veteran sol- 
diers ; she transforms the multitude into a mili- 
tary array, and no one Imows any longer the 



JOAN OF AEG 111 

meaning of fear. The youthful form of the 
maiden blunts the point of the lance and breaks 
the foeman's sword: with her stainless bosom 
she shields the heart of France. 

''Her recompense? Betrayed and subjected 
to outrage, and judged unjustly, in her last and 
most fearful struggle she is as constant as in 
those that went before; and the words caught 
from her dying lips will cause tears to flow for- 
ever more. 

''. . . Abandoned by her king and by her 
people, whom she saved, by the cruel path of 
flame she returns to the bosom of Grod. . . . No 
ideal that man has conceived ever approached 
this most certain reality." 

MiCHELET. 

Jeanne d'Arc. Introduction. 

"Thy country's sin, the insult, and the shame, 
The scaffold's doom, the faggot and the flame — 
All these shall pass and be remembered not ; 
Fair Charity with kindly tears shall blot 
From France's shield the black corroding stain, 
Caught from thy blood, Lily of Lorraine ! 

The hero's heart shall lose its thirst for fame, 
And truth be dead, and virtue but a name, 
Ere men shall cease to honor thee who gave 
To France, to liberty, to truth — 
In battle's bloodiest trenches undismayed, 
'Neath insult meek, in persecution brave. 
Thy love, thy life, thy stainless youth, 
Virgin, Patriot, and Martyr Maid!" 

Coleman". 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I PAGE 

Introductory 13 

Section 1. — Recent Studies 13 

Section 2. — Joan, Her Own Historian ... 20 

Section 3. — The Church and Joan .... 21 

CHAPTER II 

The Mission of Joan 23 

Section 1. — General View 23 

Section 2, — The Supernatural in the Mission 

of Joan 24 

Section 3. — Her Prophecies 28 

Section 4. — Joan's Pre-eminent Sanctity . . 32 

Section 5. — Joan's Military Genius ... 35 

CHAPTER III 

Christendom at the Time op Joan op Arc . . 39 

Section 1. — General View 39 

Section 2. — England and France .... 42 

Section 3. — Dissensions of the French Princes 44 

CHAPTER IV 

Charles VII 51 



VI CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V p^QE 

Condition of the People 55 

CHAPTER VI 

Joan's Early Years .59 

Section 1. — Her Birthplace 59 

Section 2. — Joan's Family and its Condition. 

Her House and Name . . . . 62 
Section 3. — Her Birth and the Chronology of 

Her Life 69 

CHAPTER VII 

The Unfolding of the Flower — Joan's Man- 
ner op Life at Domremy . . 73 
Section 1. — As She Appeared to Others ,. , 73 
Section 2. — Her Heavenly Visitors .... 79 

CHAPTER VIII 

Joan Enters on Her Military Career — She 

Goes to Vaucouleurs ... 84 



CHAPTER IX 

Joan Goes to the King at Chinon . 
Section 1. — Across France 
Section 2. — With the King at Chinon 
Section 3. — ^At Poitiers and Tours. 
Her Sword and Banner 



91 
91 

93 

100 



Section 4. — Joan's Attire and Appearance . 106 



CONTENTS Vll 

CHAPTER X p^Qj. 

The Land, the Parties, and the Men, when 

Joan Comes 109 

Section 1.— The Land 109 

Section 2. — The Parties, National and Anti- 
national 110 

Section 3. — Some of the Men with Joan . . 114 

CHAPTER XI 

War in Joan's Time — Her Army .... 117 
i Section 1. — Manner of Warfare .... 117 
V Section 2. — Joan's Army 120 



CHAPTER XII 
The City of Orleans at the Time of the Siege 122 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Siege Until the Coming op Joan . . . 126 

CHAPTER XIV 

Joan Comes to Orleans 134 

Section 1. — The Convoy Made Ready at Blois. 

Joan's Letter to the English . . 134 
Section 2. — The Revictualing of Orleans . . 137 
Section 3. — Joan Enters the City . . . . 141 

CHAPTER XV 
Joan Raises the Siege 143 



Vlll CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XVI pAOE 

The Campaign of the Loire 157 

Section 1. — Joan Goes to Meet the King . . 157 

Section 2. — Preparation for the Campaign . 159 

Section 3. — The Taking of Jargeau . . • 161 

Section 4. — Meung, Beaugeney and Patay . 164 

CHAPTER XVII 

Joan Leads the King to Be Crowned . . . 167 

Section 1. — Slow to Move 167 

Section 2.— What Might Have Been . . ,171 
Section 3. — Joan's Manner of Warfare . . 173 
Section 4. — A Bloodless March Through Foes 176 

CHAPTER XVIII 
The Crowning 184 

CHAPTER XIX 

After the Coronation • . . 188 

Section 1. — Duplicity and Treason .... 188 
Section 2. — Advance and Retreat .... 191 

CHAPTER XX 

To Paris! 197 

Section 1. — Advancing to Battle. Joan's 

Position. Joy of the People , . 197 

Section 2.— A Drawn Battle 199 

Section 3. — Further Successes and Vain Nego- 
tiations 202 



CONTENTS IX 

FAOK 

Section 4. — Joan Leaves Compiegne. . 

Message of Count d'Armagnae . 203 
Section 5. — Joan Marches 205 

CHAPTER XXI 
The Fight for Paris . 206 

CHAPTER XXII 

The Great Retreat and After 212 

Section 1.— The Retreat 212 

Section 2. — Joan Parted from Alengon. . 

Subsequent Movements . . . 213 

Section 3. — Joan at Bourges 215 

Section 4. — Joan Unmasks Catherine of La 

Rochelle 216 

Section 5. — The Taking of St. Pierre-le-Mous- 

tier 217 

Section 6. — Failure at La Charite .... 218 
Section 7. — The Ennobling of Joan 's Family . 219 
Section 8. — Winter and Spring .... 220 

CHAPTER XXIII 

Joan's Last Campaign 222 

Section 1. — She Comes to Lagny 

Defeat and Execution of Franquet 

d'Arras 222 

Section 2. — The Prediction of Joan's Capture 224 
Section 3. — The Position of Burgundy and the 

English 225 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXIV p^o^ 

The Siege of Compiegne 227 

CHAPTER XXV 
The Sortie and Capture of Joan .... 233 

CHAPTER XXVI 
Was Joan Betrayed? 238 

CHAPTER XXVII 
Position of Joan as Captive 241 

CHAPTER XXVIII 
Joan in Captivity. — From Compiegne to Rouen 246 

CHAPTER XXIX 
Joan's Last Prison 254 

CHAPTER XXX 
Some of the Sanhedrin 258 

CHAPTER XXXI 
General View of the Trial 262 

CHAPTER XXXII 
Preparing for the Trial 270 

CHAPTER XXXIII 

The Examination of Joan . . . . . . 274 



CONTENTS XI 

CHAPTER XXXIV p^«e 

A Change of Procedure ....... 286 

CHAPTER XXXV 
Between the Examination and the Trial . 294 

CHAPTER XXXVI 
The Trial 297 

CHAPTER XXXVII 
The Question of Torture 304 

CHAPTER XXXVIII 
The Pretended Abjuration 307 

CHAPTER XXXIX 

The Quitting and Resumption of Male Attire 315 

CHAPTER XL 
Interrogatory of May 28th 318 

CHAPTER XLI 
X The Sentence and Execution 321 

CHAPTER XLII 
After the Death of Joan 328 



Xll CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XLIII 



PAGE 



Did Joan Die A Martyr? 333 

CHAPTER XLIV 
"What Did Her Party Do to Save Joan 1 . . 335 

CHAPTER XLV 
The Rehabilitation 336 

CHAPTER XLVI 

Joan Through the Vista op the Years . . . 340 

CHAPTER XLVII 
Joan's Beatification • 342 

CHAPTER XLVIII 
Canonization — St. Joan op Arc 344 



ST. JOAN OF ARC 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTOBY 

Section 1. — Recent Studies 

THE beatification of Joan of Arc by Pope 
Pius X five hundred years after her birth, 
has increased or emphasized the fame which 
was its cause. Never was a beatification more 
ardently desired, it has been said; nor more 
enthusiastically welcomed. The extraordinary 
popularity of the Maid, strangely deepening and 
expanding in our day, has stimulated the study 
of the sources of her history, and inspired the 
writing of new biographies. They have been 
produced by believers of various creeds, and by 
unbelievers in any creed. We do not, of course, 
refer to lives which dishonor the fair fame and 
the extraordinary career of the heroine — com- 
positions so base and baseless, that they can- 
not arrest attention. 

M. Quicherat 's publication, fifty years ago, of 
the twofold Process, the documents, namely, re- 
garding the condemnation and the rehabilita- 
tion, or justification of Joan, placed in the 

13 



14 IlSrTRODUCTORY 

hands of the student the official reports, which, 
curiously enough, are the chief sources of her 
history — curiously; for the condemnation, 
which occupies the larger place, was grossly un- 
just and murderously hostile; yet Providence 
would have it so, that the victim's answers were 
written, generally speaking, with substantial 
correctness. 

Since Quicherat's time many new documents 
have been discovered, new light has been thrown 
on the actors in the drama, the fifteenth century 
has been more profoundly studied, many fancies 
and fallacies have been dissipated. With re- 
gard to these last, it has been proved, for 
instance, that the so-called double retraction 
of Joan before her execution cannot be sus- 
tained, that she never gave any ground whatso- 
ever for supposing that her mission ended with 
the crowning of the king at Rheims; that this 
''gentle Dauphin" was in reality a man of 
blameless life, as Joan clearly thought and said 
he was, until after she had been withdrawn. 

In 1840 the Society of the History of France 
entrusted to one of its members, M. Jules 
Quicherat, the publication of the two Processes. 
He was a scholar of reputation, the director of 
the Ecole des Chartes ; that is to say, a special- 
ist in paleography, or the deciphering of ancient 
manuscripts. The publication was continued 
from 1840 to 1849. The first three volumes 
were devoted to the Processes — the Condemna- 
tion and the Rehabilitation ; and in the remain- 



INTRODUCTORY 15 

ing two volumes M. Quicherat published all the 
other documents known to him and considered 
by him the sources of the Maid's history. M. 
Quicherat came of a family of extreme revolu- 
tionary traditions and sentiments. He himself, 
though an upright and loyal man, and a sincere 
admirer of Joan of Arc, did not, however, 
share her faith; nor, it appears, any definite 
Christian faith at all. This mental condition 
influenced, unfortunately, his publication of the 
documentary evidence, and his own writings, 
regarding the heroine. He recommended the 
omission of several memoirs, and actually 
omitted them; because he considered them, as 
he said, theological or canonical. As a matter 
of fact, they were of great value, written by 
men of weight, learning and station. They not 
only furnish new matter, but they, perhaps 
chiefly, do justice to Joan's mission; and if 
their value be ignored, or underrated, her 
history becomes a misrepresentation. The 
authors of the memoirs, men of highest posi- 
tion in Church and State at the time, examined 
in the most serious manner the mission of Joan. 
Such were the great prelate Pierre de Ver- 
sailles, the saintly Cardinal Elie de Bourdeilles, 
Archbishop Gelu, the intimate friend of Charles 
VII, the distinguished Dominican Brehal, who 
were the soul of the Process of Rehabilitation. 
Of the writings of these men Quicherat gives 
a few inadequate passages, and occasional in- 
sufficient notes, not always laudatory. Nor is 



16 INTRODUCTORY 

the work actually done by M. Quicherat always 
exact, especially in his publication of the Pro- 
cess of Eehabilitation, which, naturally, is more 
worthy of respect than the work of the murder- 
ous Sanhedrin of Rouen. Quicherat wished to 
abridge the manuscripts of the second trial or 
Rehabilitation, but, unfortunately, follows his 
prejudice in the selection; and omits the more 
important manuscripts for those of far less 
value. In fact, Quicherat was the first to at- 
tempt to reinstate — to some extent — the un- 
worthy Bishop of Cauchon, leaving the impres- 
sion that he followed methodically the proced- 
ure of the Inquisition; while M. Quicherat de- 
preciates the Process of Rehabilitation. But it 
is especially in his later work, Apercus Nou- 
veaux, that he disfigures the heroine whom he 
seems to admire. His omissions, his preju- 
dices, his interposition of his own false theories 
and interpretations, do wrong to the noble cause 
which he treated. His work is incomplete on 
many grounds ; he should have selected his ma- 
terials better, and have published them without 
prejudice. Nor was his judgment infallible 
with regard to the manuscripts in his hands. 
For instance, he rejected as not being of orig- 
inal authority the Chronique de la Pucelle, 
justly valued by his colleague Vallet, and shown 
by him to have been written by a secretary of 
Charles VII, Cousinot de Montreuil. Various 
other documents have since come to light. M. 
Quicherat himself published the charming com- 



INTRODUCTORY 17 

position of the Registrar of La Rochelle. Later 
came the delightful pages of the Vatican manu- 
script published by Delisle, the Belgian Chron- 
icles, the Chronicle of the Cordeliers, the cor- 
respondence of Guistiniani in Morosini — all 
these were unknown when Quicherat edited his 
collection. There are many contemporary let- 
ters regarding Joan, written by the highest per- 
sons at the court of Charles VII; and of these 
not a few are in course of publication. There 
have been found various documents of local and 
general historical value, such as unedited lives 
of Joan, and an unpublished history of the Uni- 
versity of Paris. Much work of investigation 
and publication remains to be done by scholars 
with intimate knowledge, historical, political, 
and religious, of the fifteenth century, who will 
edit the manuscripts with discretion, and with 
serious and adequate notes. 

The most distinguished and conscientious 
work hitherto done is, unquestionably, that of 
Pere Ayroles, S.J. ; who, coming fifty years 
after Quicherat, has spent more than twenty 
years of life in investigating the true sources of 
the life of Joan — for him a work of love. The 
praise of the Bishop of Orleans is not excessive 
when he calls P. Ayroles *^the man best in- 
formed regarding Joan of Arc. ' ' His work has 
been declared by eminent French scholars to be, 
what it truly is, "an imperishable monument," 
of scrupulous authenticity. His fine volumes 
contain far more matter, and are far more serv- 



18 INTRODUCTORY 

iceable, than those of M. Quicherat. P. Ay- 
roles ' work is indispensable indeed. He shows, 
in particular, the nefarious part of the Univer- 
sity of Paris, not only in the condemnation of 
Joan, but in the affairs of the Church at the 
time — its traitorous, destructive plots for fifty 
years before and twenty years after the execu- 
tion of the Maid. No institution ever injured 
the Church more than did the decadent Univer- 
sity of Paris. From its blows the Church has 
not yet recovered, and probably never will re- 
cover. Yet it was the University which de- 
clared itself the Church in the condemnation of 
the heroine ; and it was its officials and doctors, 
including Cauchon, who compassed her murder, 
without needing any instigation of Beaufort, 
Bedford, or Warwick. 

In the interminable sess'ions of condemnation 
(the first trial), Joan revealed her whole soul 
and life. At the Eehabilitation, one hundred 
and twenty witnesses declared under oath, free 
of the terrors of Rouen, what they themselves 
had seen and heard. Thus the miraculous life 
is most luminous, authentic, and incontestable. 
In the words of Cardinal Pie, we have not only 
historical but juridical certitude as to the details. 
Her mission startled Christendom; and so we 
have a mass of contemporary writings — chron- 
icles, histories, letters, poetry, municipal regis- 
ters, etc., in France, Italy, Germany, Scotland. 
All these have been studied by Father Ayroles ; 
and much of the matter has been reproduced. 



INTRODUCTORY 19 

He has discovered much of first class value, as 
the Letters of Justiniani in Morosini, and the 
correspondence of Archbishop Gelu. He has 
translated the memoirs of the Rehabilitation; 
collected and arranged many documents neg- 
lected or misplaced in injudicious collections; 
thrown a flood of light on the authors and actors 
in the scene; and justly estimated the value of 
printed books. His purpose has been fully 
achieved — to dissipate the fallacies and fancies 
of those who have misrepresented the Maid and 
her mission. He has made fully understood the 
examination and proofs of her mission before 
the officials of Charles VII; and shows Joan 
in her true surroundings, amidst the hostility 
of a court bishop or two, of faithless politicians, 
and of military captains. And, finally, he has 
proved the falsity of the Acts added by the un- 
just judge Cauchon to the pretended abjuration 
of Joan in the cemetery of Rouen. Not in 
vain does he name the first large volume of the 
five — Jeanne before the Church of her Time; 
for there he manifests her surrounded by the en- 
thusiastic loyalty of the real Church of France. 
He reveals her, too, in the wider import of her 
frustrated mission, which was far other than 
the mere expulsion of the English soldiers and 
king from the soil of France. The scrupulous 
exactitude, the indefatigable research of P. Ay- 
roles, have won him the title given in the Acts 
of the Process of Beatification — ''the historian 
par excellence of Joan of Arc." 



20 INTBODUCTORY 

Section 2. — Joan, Her Own Historian 

Jean Hordal, professor of law at the Uni- 
versity of Pont-a-Mousson, in his Latin history 
of his glorious relative Joan, cites, in 1612, the 
names, and gives extracts from the works, of 
some one hundred and fifty authors who had 
written of the warrior Maid. These were his- 
torians, theologians, lawyers, poets, physicians. 
Among them are illustrious names, eminent in 
knowledge. But Joan was her own best his- 
torian. Without a friend, without counsel or 
aid of any kind save from heaven, the frank and 
simple-hearted peasant maiden reveals her 
whole life and soul before the unjust judges, 
who eagerly sought in the most obscure events 
and details of her short life the proofs of evil, 
in order to condemn her to death by fire. This 
is unique in human history. Nothing could be 
more luminous. And by a strange and benig- 
nant disposition of Providence, the scribe who 
wrote the questions and answers was honest; 
and, except perhaps in a few important in- 
stances, substantially correct. 

From the beginning, Joan was a sign to be 
contradicted. The plotting courtiers were 
never quite in favor of her ; the captains chafed 
under her leadership and success. The ''gentle 
Dauphin, ' ' whose cause she so chivalrously sus- 
tained, did not venture, or did not see his way, 
to adopt her bold program. The chronicles of 
her career were written by friends and foes. 



INTRODUCTORY 21 

The latter did not, and logically could not, ac- 
cept her mission as supernatural ; yet they por- 
tray substantially the great warrior figure, and 
admit her triumphs and popular fame. So, in a 
later time, in the really extraordinary revival 
of the memory and honor of Joan ; in the great 
chorus of praise of Catholic, Protestant, and 
unbeliever ; in the multitudinous biographies is- 
suing from the press, all are in fairly unanimous 
accord in exalting the virtues and exploits of 
La Pucelle. 

Section 3. — The Church and Joan 

It may be well, before approaching the actual 
career of Joan, to indicate some of the unjusti- 
fiable theories, or statements, made in her re- 
gard. One of these regards her relation with 
the Church in which she so fondly believed, and 
which she so devotedly obeyed. The light slur 
has frequently been uttered that the Church 
burned Joan. Again, that she was an illustri- 
ous example of free thought ; of the right, as it 
is called, of the individual conscience to follow 
its own way, independently of an authoritative 
creed proclaimed from without. Such careless 
or prejudicial declarations are unjust to religion 
and injurious to the heroine of France. To the 
Catholic Church Joan's allegiance never wav- 
ered. She began her mission with its solemn 
approval in the assembly at Poitiers. Through- 
out her whole career, nothing was more touch- 
ing than the practice of her faith. To the 



22 INTRODUCTORY 

Church and its Head she constantly professed 
entire submission. Even in the dark day of her 
condemnation and death, she pitifully implored 
that the Sacraments should be given her. And 
she died with the prayerful confidence of her 
childhood, appealing to the Pope from Caia- 
phas-like Cauchon. Pseudo-theologians, "who 
impudently called themselves the Church;" a 
band of traitorous partisans ; foes of their king, 
their country, and the Church — such were the 
members of the Sanhedrin of Rouen. The Uni- 
versity of Paris did.not represent the Church of 
France, although it certainly influenced its des- 
tinies. The University and its party were no- 
torious for their efforts to destroy the Divine 
organization and prerogatives of the Church; 
they were the authors and defenders of schism; 
the creatures of antipopes, the fathers of Gal- 
licanism. Rome denounced unhesitatingly the 
condemnation of Joan as soon as it could; that 
is, as soon as Charles VII began to move in the 
matter. And without this Roman Rehabilita- 
tion, the Maid would have remained a heroine 
of legend. Nothing was more imperatively de- 
manded than this second sentence, which cor- 
rected the evidence and falsifications of Rouen ; 
and, from the irrefragable testimony of those 
who had known Joan in childhood, in camp, 
and in her trial, presented her to the world for- 
ever in a light too resplendent to be obscured. 



CHAPTER II 

THE MISSION OF JOAN 

Section 1. — General View 

THE appalling condition of France in the 
days of Joan of Arc is a matter of his- 
tory ; there was question of the existence of the 
nation. It had been chief amongst the Chris- 
tian countries from the time of Charlemagne. 
Historically, through these ages, it had been the 
defender of the Church, and the heart of Chris- 
tendom; and was so considered by European, 
and even by infidel, public opinion. There was 
question of preserving this France of Charle- 
magne and the Crusaders. 

The assertions and life of Joan of Arc show 
that she was far more than a patriot ; or, if we 
wish, that she was a patriot of the truest and 
highest kind, who sought, not only the libera- 
tion of her native land from oppression, but, 
much more, its spiritual good, its moral and re- 
ligious reformation. She was sent, she said, 
for the suffering and the poor, because of '^the 
pity which was in France." She came to re- 
move the cause of this by restoring the rightful 
king and driving out the invader. But she 
aimed at far more. Her reformation of a prof- 

23 



24 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

ligate and cruel army, her infusing of the spirit 
of faith and religious practice amongst the peo- 
ple, her re-uniting of selfish and dissident lead- 
ers for the common good — all this was much 
nobler and far more difficult than the expulsion 
of the English. Her desire to unite England 
and France, her inspiring of all Christendom in 
a time of dire public need, the conviction of the 
Christian nations as to what her vocation really 
was, her own attestation, with the support it 
had in her actual achievements, proved that 
Christendom, after France, would have followed 
her, to do, as she said, a fairer deed than ever 
had been seen in European history. Here we 
have the need and the possibility, the power and 
the assurance, of success. Caiaphas, Herod, 
and Pilate, came together against her, and made 
her great mission fail. 

Section 2. — The Supernatural in the Mission of 
Joan 

To treat Joan's life as Renan does the Gos- 
pels is a violation of fact. To declare her life 
and work a natural phenomenon produced by 
the circumstances of the time is a direct contra- 
diction of her own testimony and of the innu- 
merable witnesses of her phenomenal deeds. 
We have unquestioned chronicles, judicial reg- 
isters, letters, official documents civil and eccle- 
siastical, slow deliberate judgments of the chief 
minds of her age and country, the testimony of 
acquaintances of her younger and of her ma- 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 25 

turer years, the word of friend and foe, to dis- 
credit the light fancy of men, who, without hesi- 
tation or embarrassment, explain away every- 
thing. Her stainless and most cautious sanc- 
tity of life, the prophecies so frequent on her 
lips, the superhuman work which she per- 
formed, all lead up to the culminating point of 
her mission, the proclamation upon which she 
insisted, that there was no cure for war-born 
France save in the union of her people under 
the sovereignty of the Christ **who loved the 
Franks. ' ' 

Joan's professed mission was to have Charles 
WI rule his kingdom under the Christian law; 
or, in other words, she proclaimed ''her Lord" 
the true king of her country ; His social and po- 
litical sovereignty was the ideal she proposed 
and toward which she strove. And what she 
proclaimed and desired for France, she would 
propose to all the Christian nations, then begin- 
ning to feel its need in face of national and re- 
ligious dissensions, and of purely human or 
pagan ''reasons of state," instead of reasons of 
Christianity. 

This is, of course, the Christian ideal and pro- 
gram, the reason of the Incarnation. Joan only 
insisted on it ; and she insists on nothing more 
constantly and emphatically. It is "her Lord" 
who sends her. She is entirely sure of His 
presence and of His assistance. She acts and 
commands in His Name. To Him she attrib- 
utes her victories and all her gifts and graces. 



26 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

His kingly name and" title are ever on her lips 
as in her heart. To the hard old soldier, Bau- 
dricourt, she says at her first visit "The king- 
dom does not belong to the Dauphin ; it belongs 
to my Lord. However, my Lord wishes that 
the Dauphin be made king, and hold his kingdom 
in trust. He will be made king in spite of all 
his enemies ; and it is I who will conduct him to 
receive his anointing." The Dauphin will be 
crowned, but by the aid and disposition of 
Heaven, and at the appointed time. The king- 
dom is given him to defend. In less than fif- 
teen months the impossible thing was done. 
The king was crowned, and the tide of utter de- 
feat turned to glorious victory. 

Again, to the noble and gallant Jean de Metz 
she said, "Neither king, nor duke, nor the 
daughter of the king of Scotland (promised then 
to the French king's son), can recover the king- 
dom ; in me alone will France be saved. So my 
Lord wills, although it is not a deed to be hoped 
for from one of my condition ; and I would far 
prefer to remain spinning beside my mother. 
He (her Lord) wishes it, and I must do it." 
Arriving at Chinon she immediately announced 
all this to the king. The noble-hearted Duke 
d'Alengon was present at the long interview, 
with the unworthy La Tremoille. Joan re- 
quested the king to offer up his kingdom to the 
true Sovereign, the King of kings; and prom- 
ised that His Divine Majesty would do for 
Charles VII the great things which He had done 



THE MISSIOlSr OF JOAN 27 

for liis predecessors. She asked, moreover, 
"many other things," which d'AlenQon had for- 
gotten. It was, finally, in obedience to this 
heavenly command of vassalage, that Charles 
consented to be led to his coronation, before the 
eyes of astonished France and of the world, by 
the hand of a peasant girl, one of the most lowly 
of his subjects. All this was meant by Joan 
when she said her banner was dearer to her than 
her sword. With the banner she led the sol- 
diers to victory. When it touches the fortress 
wall she said, the English will be quickly van- 
quished. Her banner represented her heavenly 
mission and the sovereignty of Christ, whose 
name it bore. Hence she held it displayed, 
majestically and symbolically at the coronation. 
What could prove her words better than that 
she, a child, should lead the hitherto humiliated 
and powerless king through the midst of a hos- 
tile land to be crowned at Rheims ? 

The reforms demanded by Joan at the court 
of Charles VII are mentioned, in part at least, 
by the chroniclers — a general amnesty for all 
the dissentient French partisans; the adminis- 
tration of kindly justice to the poor and to the 
rich ; reparation for past crimes ; the practice of 
religion, beginning with the king and court 
(these n'oble personages Joan made go to 
Confession and exhorted to Holy Communion) ; 
the reformation of the soldiery and of commu- 
nal administration; finally, obedience to the 
commands which Joan would receive from 



28 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

''her Lord," Such was the program of the 
Maid — the Gospel applied to the government 
and the morals of the people of France. How 
the Maid greatens in this vision of her! And 
how different she is from the peasant girl of 
free thought, who dreamed dreams and was 
stimulated to military surprise by the sight of 
a village raid perpetrated by some robber cap- 
tain! She bore no hatred to the English; but 
requested them to depart without bloodshed; 
and over their dead and dying she wept with all 
the tender pity of a woman. It is a profanation 
to reduce Joan to the stature of a mere pa- 
triot. Such was not the view of Christendom, 
astounded at her exploits and virtues. War- 
riors thronged to her banner, even from beyond 
the limits of France, foreshadowing a crusade. 
What would have been her fame if she had been 
allowed to take Paris! What enthusiasm and 
confidence she would have aroused if she had 
expelled the English completely and rapidly, as 
she proposed to do? Such victorious exploits 
would have given the noble-hearted Joan an op- 
portunity of leading a united Christendom in a 
campaign far greater than that of the Loire. 

Section 3. — Her Prophecies 

The author who believes little in the existence 
or possibility of prophecy or miracle, and the 
outright unbeliever, will always try to explain 
in a natural manner the manifested foreknowl- 
edge and the apparently superhuman deeds of 




JOAN SEES A VISION 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 29 

Joan of Arc. Such explaining away often be- 
comes trivial, and often entirely ridiculous. 

Before referring to the prophecies of the 
Maid, it is well to premise that prophecy is not 
necessarily a permanent gift, and that by its 
nature it is limited. In it is embraced the 
knowledge of secrets. Its purpose — and noth- 
ing is more evident in the history of religion — 
is to manifest Divine Providence, to prepare the 
minds of men for coming events, to turn aside 
evils, to conciliate public esteem, to show Di- 
vine approval and mission — all things of su- 
preme consequence, if not of absolute necessity, 
when there is question of an envoy of God, with 
great and supernatural things to be accom- 
plished." Provided the person favored with 
prophecy is also distinguished by heroicity of 
virtue, that is, practises the Christian virtues 
habitually in a heroic manner, or with heroic 
perfection, this gift is a great indication of sanc- 
tity, and is one of the chief grounds of canoniza- 
tion. 

Minimizing in the matter of prophecy is un- 
just to Joan of Arc. As a matter of clear fact, 
she had the gift of prophecy in a rare degree; 
the gift was astonishing, very frequent, and 
indubitable. To accept this statement it is nec- 
essary only to read her life frankly and atten- 
tively. In fact beyond the frontiers of France, 
she was probably considered a prophetess even 
more than a warrior. At Domremy, before be- 
ginning her career, and at Vaucouleurs when 



30 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

imploring the aid of Baudricourt, she prophe- 
sied in the most definite manner, tliat, before 
one year had elapsed, she would cause the king 
to be crowned; that she would do so in spite of 
his enemies— and they were many and irresist- 
ibly powerful — that at mid-Lent Divine assist- 
ance (through her) would come. On February 
12th she announced the defeat of Rouvray at 
the moment it occurred one hundred leagues 
away. This it was that finally decided Baudri- 
court to help her. The guides and guard 
feared to undertake the dangerous journey from 
Vaucouleurs to Chinon. Joan foretold they 
would meet no serious obstacle — a thing which 
seemed miraculous enough. At Chinon she rec- 
ognized the king whom she had never seen, even 
though he had disguised himself amidst the 
courtiers — however the light critics seek to deny 
the fact. She made known to Charles her 
knowledge of his supreme secret never revealed 
to any one, and uttered only to Heaven in a 
mental prayer. Other prophecies on that same 
occasion are recorded. To revictual Orleans in 
siege seemed a sheer impossibility. We shall 
do it at our ease, said Joan, without one Eng- 
lishman coming out of his intrenchments. The 
indication and description of her sword; the 
prompt deliverance of Orleans, with a hundred 
accompanying prophecies, of the crossing of the 
river, the foretelling of her wound, of the safety 
of her herald, the death of Glasdale, of the total 
flight of the English before five days, of the tak- 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 31 

ing of the Tourelles after one assault and her 
return by the bridge ; her knowledge, too, of the 
secret council of the captains, and the losses at 
Fort St. Loup — such and so constant was the 
prophesying of Joan. At Jargeau, foretelling 
the victory she inspired the assault against the 
advice of the captains; and although hurled 
from the scaling ladder by a large stone, she im- 
mediately sprang up and took the town by 
storm. During the investment of Jargeau she 
saved the life of d'Alengon by warning him to 
remove from where he was standing; directly 
afterwards, another, taking his place, was slain. 
She had foretold, also, to the tearful wife of 
this young nobleman that she would bring him 
back safe and sound. She foretold in a pictur- 
esque manner, but exactly, the extraordinary 
victory of Patay, urging her soldiers to press on 
boldly. The prediction of the coronation at 
Rheims was one of the most extraordinary of 
all. On her way thither, she told the military 
council, which was about to turn back from 
Troyes, that, if the matter were left to her, the 
city would surrender in two or three days, as 
happened. The people of Rheims, she said, 
would come forth spontaneously to meet the 
king. In the most desperate and hopeless mo- 
ment she predicted the capture of St. Pierre-le- 
Moustier. She foreknew the frustration of her 
mission, but assured that it would be accom- 
plished after her death. Paris fell in 1436 ; the 
Duke of Orleans was released in 1440; Nor- 



32 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

mandy and Guienne returned to their allegiance 
in 1450. 

The prophecies of Joan wer-e not always 
fulfilled, because they were frustrated by dis- 
loyalty or opposition. Her program was not 
followed; her own efforts were hindered; and 
hence it would have been a miracle if the deeds 
which she alone could do had been done without 
her. If such a thing indeed happened, her mis- 
sion and her genius would have been of little 
avail. Historically speaking, when Joan was 
unhindered, all went well ; when betrayed or set 
aside, things usually failed. And nothing could 
have been better or more admirable than this 
choice of a peasant girl to create and lead the 
armies of France, to the humiliation of a crim- 
inal and traitorous nobility. 

Section 4. — Joan's Pre-eminent Sanctity 

One of the great promoters of the beatifica- 
tion of Joan and of the revival of popular en- 
thusiasm in her fame, Cardinal Pie, Bishop of 
Poitiers, called her "the largest and complet- 
est type of religion" — in the sense, namely, not 
only of personal Christian perfection, but, 
moreover, of confirmation of Christian morality 
and dogma by her life, and of the manifestation 
of Divine intervention in her great career. 
This is the important view of Joan; not the 
minutiae, sometimes despicable, of some biogra- 
phers. Not the inspiring story of her brilliant 
campaigns ; not the touching drama of her mar- 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 33 

tyrdom ; but the far higher and more important 
aspect of her life and mission — the re-establish- 
ment of the Christian constitution of states, 
justice, charity, piety, Christian law, and Chris- 
tian ideals, such is the complete view of Joan, 
as of all saints, as of "her Lord" Himself. 

In the brief span of her mortal course what 
contrasts of life, duty and occupation! From 
the pious solitude of her native village, from the 
utter simplicity and snowy innocence of her 
child life, she passed to court and camp, and 
there became the central figure. But she is ever 
the same — "simple as any peasant girl save in 
things of war." She who loved her little com- 
panions, Mengette and Hauviette, at Domremy ; 
who plied busily the distaff and needle, and led 
the placid animals to the village pasture, now 
speaks to king and nobles with an ease, confi- 
dence, and grace equal to their own. She loves 
the conversation of men of war. She mounts 
the war-horse and wields the lance in a manner 
which fascinates the proud old soldiers. She 
sways the royal council, prophesies victory, 
marshals the lawless but now reformed vet- 
erans, inspires them with a sense of all-con- 
quering courage, and in bold attack and hard 
siege leads them to irresistible victory. And in 
all this strangest transformation, her prayers 
and tears are as assiduous as in her native fields 
or village church ; her angelic modesty more no- 
ticeable, noticed, and revered; her absolute de- 
tachment from any personal interest, unparal- 



34 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

leled. What Christian virtue could have 
burned more brightly than it did in the heart 
•of Joan, her sublime faith, -her nearness to 
Heaven, her warm charity to all! Not an as- 
pect of religion which was not seen in her — rev- 
erence for Divine worship and all things sacred, 
constant reception of the Sacraments, fear of 
oifending God, or failing in creed or law. Her 
stainless modesty seems miraculous. It extin- 
guishes the flame of desire in the hearts of her 
hard-fighting soldier-companions, as, fully 
armed, she sleeps beside them on the field. Yet 
no timid and cautious virgin ever took more 
precautions as to her female companions, when 
possible, and as to her place of rest. Her cour- 
tesy is as delicate and exquisite as that of a 
princess, and not unmingled with charming hu- 
mor. Her fortitude is unequaled by the hard- 
iest warrior of the royal army. Baudricourt 
will not abasih her, nor the counsels of the cap- 
tains dissuade, nor the unparalleled dangers of 
journey, march, or desperate attack, ever make 
her feel a thrill of terror. She will weep over 
the dead, and for a moment when she is 
wounded ; but this only shows she never lost the 
tenderness of the maiden. Her sobriety was so 
great that even at the close of the hard-fought 
day, she eats but a little bread steeped in wine. 
The people everywhere are intimately ac- 
quainted with all this ; and so they venerate her 
as a saint, and kiss the stirrup of her saddle and 
the hem of her robe, and ask her to touch their 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 35 

rosaries. But she laughingly returns them 
with the gay word, that it will do just as much 
good if thejT^ touch them themselves. 

Section 5. — Joan's Military Genius 

The transformation of Joan of Arc is unique. 
From a simple peasant maiden, she becomes, at 
the age of seventeen years, an accomplished 
captain of resistless leadership, a perfect horse- 
woman, an intrepid soldier, a consummate gen- 
eral, inspiring the foe with terror. She per- 
forms magnificent exploits, with, as became a 
great commander, lightning rapidity. Armies 
flee, castles fall, cities open their gates. Per- 
fidy alone — this was, she said, the only thing she 
feared — stays her victorious advance. She 
never mounted a hors'e until leaving Vaucou- 
leurs to go to the king. A few days after, she so 
charmed d'Alencon in presence of the king by 
the skill with which she rode her horse and man- 
aged her lance, that he gave her a present of a 
warhorse. She now was much pleased with ar- 
mor, and asked the king for good horses and 
arms. 

D'Alengon, who was nominal commander-in- 
chief of her army, said, "In all things, excepting 
war, she was simple as any young girl. But in 
war she was most expert, either in wielding the 
lance, or massing the army and preparing the 
battle. She made excellent use of artillery; 
and it was a subject of admiration for all to see 
her military skill and intuition. One would 



36 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

have thought her a captain of twenty or thirty 
years ' experience ; and especially in the arrange- 
ment of the artillery, she was excellent on this 
point." Her hostess at Bourges, Dame de 
Bouligny, said Joan seemed to know absolutely 
nothing beyond matters of war. Her simplic- 
ity and innocence were noticed by all, and very 
much increased the veneration she received. 
The Chevalier Thermes, who fought beside 
her, testified that in the leading of an army, in 
arranging the line of battle, in animating the 
combatants, there was no captain so skillful in 
the whole world even though he had passed his 
life in the art of war. 

Her summons to surrender terrified the stub- 
born English veterans — the facts are undoubted. 
Recruiting became difficult, desertions frequent. 
In four months they lost the conquests of ten 
years. The Duke of Bedford sums up the cities 
— Rheims, Troyes, Chalons, etc. Napoleon did 
nothing better in the same length of time, every- 
thing considered. The counsel of the chiefs 
was often opposed to hers ; but she swept them 
with her. In fact, she found it much harder to 
overcome the resistance of the leaders, lay and 
clerical, with whom she was allied, than to van- 
quish the English. 

The opposition in the royal party to Joan is 
almost incredible. In her brief military career 
of about thirteen months, she was practically 
supreme in the leadership of the army for less 
than two months. During this short space, 



THE MISSION OF JOAN 37 

Orleans was delivered in nine days, after a siege 
of at least six months ; Patay was won, and the 
campaign of the Loire completed in six days. 
From Jnne 29th, 1429, to May 23rd, 1430, she 
was only tolerated, and had never sufficient help. 
She accompanied the army to Rheims although 
the surrender of Troyes is due to her. It is 
still more manifest that she was merely 
tolerated in the campaign of the Ile-de-France. 
The failure at Paris was the work of Charles 
VII and his council. On the Haute Loire, in a 
series of sieges, she was placed under others; 
but the credit of taking Saint-Pierre-le-Moustier 
falls to her. In her last campaign she had only 
a few hundred men, and even then she was 
opposed and hindered up to her capture at 
Compiegne. Yet all this time she was full of 
activity, intelligence, and energy. In the be- 
ginning she quickly overcame the intrigues of 
the court at Chinon. The army of *'old 
brigands" (Armagnac), pillagers and dissolute, 
was changed in a few days. Captains, proud, 
skeptical, and debauched, followed the peasant 
child. Etienne de Vignoles — called, from his 
brusque character. La Hire, an old Burgundian 
word for the snarl of a dog — practised and 
praised pillage. Gaucourt, a man of fifty-seven 
years, was a distinguished leader. Such, too, 
Yv^as de Gontant; such, Sainte-Severe. The 
people and common soldiers worshiped Joan, 
and the captains obeyed. Dunois, the true, 
noble, and gallant soldier, was, twenty-five 



38 THE MISSION OF JOAN 

years after, still under the fascination of the 
warrior Maid. La Hire alone tried to release 
Joan at Eouen ; but he was taken by the English, 
and soon escaped. 

The military traits of Joan are thus summed 
up by General Canonge — bravery, example, 
humor and repartee, skill, foresight, grasp of 
the situation, activity and rapidity, astonishing 
endurance, extreme sobriety, horsemanship, use 
of arms, audacious and stubborn attack, ardor 
and prudence, humanity, knowledge of men and 
of the heart. 



CHAPTER III 

CHKISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ABC 

Section 1. — General View 

JOAN was born almost at the close of the 
Great Schism of the West. This deplor- 
able division of Western Christendom was due, 
at least indirectly, to Philip IV (le Bel) of 
France ; who, making the Papacy practically an 
appanage of the French crown, aimed at making 
himself the arbiter of the Christian world. The 
great international power of the Pope, who was 
long the acknowledged judge and peacemaker of 
the Catholic nations, the defender of the op- 
pressed, the educator and restrainer of kings, 
was defied and broken by Philip le Bel, and was 
never regained. The ill-omened monarch really 
began the Hundred Years' War with England, 
which brought his country more than once to the 
very verge of destruction. 

The Great Schism was the work of the French 
Cardinals, preponderant in the conclave and 
Roman Court since the days of Avignon. They 
desired to continue dominant, and make the 
Papacy French. In the very year of Joan's 
birth there were three Papal claimants, one hav- 
ing been added by the Council of Pisa in 1409. 

39 



40 CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ABC 

In 1417 Pope Martin V was elected, and the 
schism was over, ostensibly at least, and as far 
as the Head of the Church was concerned. But 
the effects have never quite ceased ; the Papacy 
has never regained its prestige. The contest- 
ing claimants of the tiara, lacking authority, and 
wishing to conciliate the great to their respec- 
tive causes, were unable to restrain the pre- 
tensions and abuses of kings and nobles. Of the 
antipope Clement VI, one of his adherents 
wrote: "He has so subjected the clergy to the 
great ones of the world, that each one of these 
seems to be Pope more than the Pope himself." 
The powerful seized the Church benefices and 
dignities, and bestowed them on their favorites. 
These things were allowed by Popes in order to 
restrain the great from open schism. And thus 
it came to pass by degrees, that, "in the most 
Christian Kingdom and under the most Chris- 
tian King, lay and married folk were heard to 
speak of 'my benefice, my abbey, my monks'; 
no wonder that the abbeys and the monks be- 
came discredited." Heresy, which had never 
since the time of Clovis found a home in Europe, 
was now acclimatized, and showed its character 
and consequences in the fearful excesses of the 
Hussites. In the following century Luther and 
others would divide Western, Christianity prob- 
ably forever. Even after the election of Martin 
V, the false Benedict XIII was still sustained 
by the ambition of Alfonso of Arragon, and by 
Count Armagnac. Pope Martin died on Feb- 



CHBISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ABC 41 

ruary 20th, 1431, as the trial of E-ouen was be- 
ginning; and it is proved that Joan had never 
heard the name of his successor, Eugene IV. 

The evil genius of Mahometanism had long 
been menacing and enslaving the Christian na- 
tions. In 1415, Mahomet, penetrating as far as 
Salzburg, had carried away thirty thousand 
prisoners. Adrianople had been their second 
capital since 1360. The threat of a sultan to 
make his horses feed on the altar of St. Peter 's 
was by no means rash. The las.t emperors of 
Constantinople, with scarcely more than the city 
in their possession, gave, in their abasement, 
their daughters to the sultans, and followed 
them to war, even against the cities that wished 
to remain faithful. All Christian civilization 
had perished in Asia and Africa before the 
sword of Islam, which threatened Italy, torn by 
internecine war, and was still maintained in 
Spain through the dissensions of the Christians. 
There was sore need of a Godfrey de Bouillon, 
of a Charlemagne. Was the remedy promised 
by Joan of Arc when she spoke of a deed to be 
done more wonderful than had yet been seen in 
Christendom? 

The time was pregnant with great events. 
The discovery of new worlds, begun by Portu- 
gal, was soon to reach its climax in the posses- 
sion of America. The age of printing was 
about to dawn. Meanwhile, Gallicanism, for- 
mulated and carried into practice by Philip le 
Bel, menaced, in the Councils of Constance and 



42 CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ABO 

Basle, under the inspiration and support of the 
University of Paris, the very existence of the 
constitution of historic Christianity. The all- 
dominant mediseval Papacy lost its international 
power ; and the long discord of France with the 
center of Christendom was begun or em- 
phasized. 

Section 2. — England and France 

England and France should have united for 
the defense of Christendom; instead, there was 
waged between them the War of a Hundred 
Years. As long as England was under Eng- 
lish rule, the two nations were friendly. The 
invasion of William of Normandy was the root 
of the trouble, which reached its climax under 
Henry Plantagenet of the House of Anjou. 
The hostility between the two nations has never 
been since quite extinguished. The Hundred 
Years' War was caused by Philip le Bel, and 
continued by his posterity. Philip's three sons, 
each king for a short time, died early. But, 
previously, and during the reign of their 
father-in-law, Philip le Bel, the three wives of 
the royal sons were seized and convicted of 
adultery, or connivance threat — ^probably after 
the manner of the Templars — their husbands 
doing nothing in their defense. One was done 
to death, more or less slowly, in prison ; another 
was divorced and imprisoned, and died soon 
after her inclosure in a cloister. The third, 
having been imprisoned, was finally released. 



CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 43 

This was one of the many atrocious '^ affaires," 
not always without shedding of blood, which 
happened in the days of this king, who was the 
murderer of the Templar Knights, as well as 
of Pope Boniface VIII. The "horrible scan- 
dal," as Lavisse calls it in his History, was as 
obscure as the other horrible "affaires"; but 
during it, many men and women were tortured, 
and many suffered death. Historians have 
thought it probable that the sanguinary drama 
was really hatched by Isabelle, daughter of 
Philip le Bel and wife of Edward II of England. 
Her English title, given by the poet Gray, is 
notorious as well as deserved — the "She-wolf of 
France." She became the mistress of Sir 
Eoger Mortimer and murderess of her husband. 
Philip le Bel seized the Duchy of Guienne by 
duplicity (as is generally admitted) from Ed- 
ward I; and war began in 1294. This was the 
real beginning of the Hundred Years' War. 
Peace was made in 1303. Edward II married 
Isabelle, the daughter of Philip; and Guienne 
was restored. This arrangement led to fright- 
ful calamities ; and the independence of France 
was twice imperiled. In 1338, Edward III, 
whose claim to the French throne rested on his 
mother Isabelle (contrary to the Salic Law), 
contested the crown with Philip VI, son of 
Charles of Valois, who was the brother of 
Philip le Bel. The defeat of the French at 
Sluys (1340) and at Crecy (1346) by Edward 
III, and at Poitiers (1356) by the Black Prince, 



44 CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ABC 

who made King John of France prisoner, ex- 
tended and assured the dominion of England 
over a great part of the conquered country. 
Charles V of France and Du Guesclin, however, 
recovered nearly all the English had taken, 
save Calais and Bordeaux. Henry V, of the 
usurping House of Lancaster, renewed the claim 
to France; and defeated Charles VI at Agin- 
court in 1415. By the treaty of Troyes in 1420 
the whole of France was ceded to Henry V, who 
entered Paris some months after, and died the 
following year at the age of thirty-four. Two 
months after him died the unfortunate French 
Monarch, Charles VI. His son, now eighteen 
years old, the ''gentle Dauphin" of Joan of 
Arc, and afterwards, through her. King Charles 
VII of France, was now the rival claimant to 
the French throne, against the infant son of 
Henry V of the House of Lancaster. 

Section 3. — Dissensions of the French Princes 

It has been remarked that France created 
three claimants to the Papal throne, and now 
she was torn to pieces by three contending 
parties — French, Burgundian, and English. To 
sustain the schism in the Church she set one car- 
dinal against another; now her royal princes 
shocked humanity by their murderous feuds. 
Her Gallicanism, which aimed at destroying the 
organization of the Church, saw its counterpart 
in the unparalleled excesses of the Parisian 
mobs. 



CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 45 

Charles VI was called to the throne in 1380 
at the age of twelve, under regents (his uncles) 
and tutors who robbed the treasury. When he 
became mad (intermittently) in 1392, the first 
peer of the realm, Philip the Bold, Duke of Bur- 
gundy, sought the chief post. After his death 
in 1404, his son, John the Fearless, had the same 
ambition. To secure his influence, he gave one 
of his daughters to the Dauphin Louis, Duke of 
Guienne; and his son Philip was married to 
Michelle, daughter of the king. The rival of 
John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, was his 
first cousin, Louis, Duke of Orleans, the brother 
of the king. Louis was nearer to the throne, 
and claimed the right of regency. He was hand- 
some, talented, fond of pleasure, and a favorite 
of Queen Isabeau, the ill-reputed wife of 
Charles VI. The bitterest hostility raged be- 
tween the rival cousins. John accused Louis of 
imposing excessive taxation, and of wasting the 
public revenues. In 1407 the uncles of these 
two princes reunited them, even under the seal 
of Holy Communion received together. Three 
days after, on November 23rd, Louis was mur- 
dered in rue Barbette, in the evening, as he came 
from the quarters of the queen. John avowed 
the murder and retired from public view, but 
soon returned. In his name, John Petit, a 
great doctor of the University of Paris, and a 
great opponent of Papal prerogatives, justified 
and glorified the crime in a public discourse. 
Valentine de Milan, widow of Louis, vainly 



46 CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 

seeking justice, died of grief at Blois, on De- 
cember 4:th, 1408, recommending her sons to 
avenge their father. Her sons were Charles, 
Duke of Orleans, eighteen years old, father of 
the future Louis XII; John, Count of Angou- 
leme, uncle of Francis I; and the Count des 
Vertus, who died childless. With these was her 
husband's illegitimate son, the gallant and 
noble-hearted soldier afterwards called Count 
Dunois, but now named in the unabashed speech 
of the time the Bastard of Orleans. This 
courteous, loyal, and princely leader, the soul 
of the defense of Orleans, was the glorious and 
most faithful companion of Joan of Arc; after 
her death he retook Normandy and Guienne 
from the English. 

In 1410 the Duke of Orleans wedded the 
daughter of Count d'Armagnac; and hence we 
have the murderous party-cry of Armagnac, as 
we have the equally murderous cry of Bur- 
gundy; both parties were almost equally 
traitorous, and both called in the invader from 
overseas. The federation formed by Count 
d'Armagnac was chiefly composed of royal 
princes. The most important matter was to ob- 
tain possession of the king and of the city of 
Paris. After atrocious ravages, in which the 
peasants were the chief victims, the peace of 
Bicetre was concluded on November 2nd, 1410; 
the leaders on both sides agreeing to quit Paris. 
The governor of the city was, however, really 
the lieutenant of Burgundy. In 1411 the 



CHEISTENDOM AT THE TIME OP JOAN OF ARC 47 

Armagnac party began the civil war anew with 
the fury of wild beasts. They tortured the 
peasants to extort money, they outraged the 
women, and burnt the country where they 
passed. The most horrible sacrileges caused 
them no scruple. They were excommunicated, 
and the feeble king offered protection to all who 
would slay them. The Parisian mob, inflamed 
by the Burgundians, inaugurated a reign of 
terror, said to have been more terrible than that 
of the later French Revolution. The Armag- 
nacs then did what the Burgundians had done, 
and handed over their country to England by 
the treaty of the 8th of May, 1812. For John 
of Burgundy had raised an army of one hundred 
thousand men in Picardy, Flanders, and Hain- 
ault ; and devastating the country as cruelly as 
did the Armagnac party, had gone secretly to 
Calais to seek an alliance between one of his 
daughters and the heir of the English crown. 
Strengthened by seven thousand English re- 
cruits, he repelled his opponents, and sent his 
allies to live on the country as they returned to 
Calais. The Duke of Clarence, in accordance 
with the stipulations of the treaty with the 
Armagnacs, landed in France, and the second 
stage of the Hundred Years' War began. In 
the same year that the two French parties were 
betraying their country to England, Joan of Arc 
was born. Seventeen years later, on the date 
of the traitorous treaty, she began to roll back 
at Orleans the tide of the invasion. 



48 CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 

Henry V, after the first troubles of his reign, 
demanded the hand of Princess Catherine of 
France, with several provinces as her dowry. 
Eefused, he landed at Harfleur on August 14, 
1415; and took it after six weeks. Agincourt 
followed on the 25th of October. The Duke of 
Burgundy, in an interview with Henry V and 
the Emperor Sigismund agreed to the partition 
of France, while his soldiers spared nothing in 
their ravages on both banks of the Somme. He 
himself laid waste the environs of Paris, in- 
vaded Beauce, and getting possession of the 
.queen, instituted a form of government at 
Troyes. The efforts of Pope Martin V were 
fruitless for the union of the French parties. 
The horrors of the Burgundians, masters of 
Paris, in 1418, surpassed beyond measure all 
that had preceded, while John of Burgundy and 
Queen Isabeau entered the city in triumph. 
The legates of the Pope in vain appealed to the 
English king to make peace ; but the two cousins. 
Burgundy and the Dauphin, came together, not 
without suspicion, to be reconciled at Monte- 
reau. During their interview on the middle of 
the bridge, John the Fearless was struck dead, 
after his career of crime, by one of the followers 
of the Dauphin. What was the cause, no one 
can say — whether a sudden altercation, or an 
attempt to seize the Dauphin, or malice afore- 
thought. It has never been proved that the 
Dauphin had instigated the deed. Joan of Arc 
afterwards deplored the murder; and it was 



CHRISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 49 

said figuratively, though not quite truly, that by 
the wound of the cleft skull, long after visible, 
the English entered France. At the date of the 
fatal interview of Montereau, the Dauphin was 
seventeen years of age ; and Joan of Arc, eight. 
Immediately the ardently partisan University 
of Paris called for vengeance, and the Bur- 
gundians, its close allies, more enraged than 
ever, now led by Philip, son of John the Fear- 
less, made closer their alliance with the English. 
To them the unworthy queen also appealed for 
revenge. A treaty recognizing Henry V as 
King of France was ratified at Paris, and pro- 
claimed at Troyes, at that time practically the 
Burgundian capital, on Henry 's arrival there on 
May 20th, 1420. The demented king, Charles 
VI, was made to declare that Henry, to whom he 
gave his daughter Catherine, was his beloved 
son and heir, and regent of France while await- 
ing the crown. Paris was governed by the 
English, and its parliament proscribed the 
Dauphin Charles, as did his unnatural mother. 
There was a revival of patriotism amongst the 
French; some provinces, like Languedoc, re- 
turned to the national allegiance ; and Thomas, 
Duke of Clarence, the brother of Henry V, was 
slain at the French victory of Bauge, March 
22nd, 1421. On hearing this news, Henry landed 
again in France, took Meaux after a six months ' 
siege, but died on the 30th of August, at Vin- 
cennes, at the age of thirty-four. Charles VI, 
his insane father-in-law, followed him to the 



50 CHEISTENDOM AT THE TIME OF JOAN OF ARC 

grave on the 22nd of October. John, Duke of 
Bedford, brother of Henry, was at the time 
regent of France; and after a treaty of friend- 
ship with the Duke of Brittany and his brother 
Kichmond, or Richemont, wedded a sister of the 
Duke of Burgundy. Eichemont married an- 
other. The Dauphin Charles was unable to 
make headway against the skillful politician and 
soldier Bedford, whose successes were crowned 
by the victory of Verneuil, August 17th, 1424, a 
day almost as disastrous for France as was 
Agincourt. The national party struggled in its 
decomposition for five years more, until Joan 
the warrior Maid rolled back the tide of English 
victory. 



CHAPTER IV 

CHAELES VII 

I HE king whom Joan of Arc caused to be 
crowned at Rheims has been the subject 
of much contemptuouis speech. Nothing is easier 
than to reproach the monarch who abandoned 
to her fate the heroine to whom he owed his 
throne. Not without reason is he condemned 
for his disorderly life. To this is added ridi- 
cule because of his supposed personal appear- 
ance, his neglect of his royal functions, his lack 
of soldierly vigor. All this is not quite just. 
Charles was born February 22nd, 1403. His two 
brothers, elder than he, died young and left no 
issue, though married. Owing to the unfor- 
tunate custom of the time, he was affianced at 
the age of eleven to a near relative, a child two 
years younger, Marie of Anjou; and because of 
his dissolute mother, passed into the family of 
his future mother-in-law, Yolande, an Arra- 
gonese princess, styled Queen of Sicily. He 
was married in April, 1422. He had won 
back Languedoc to his allegiance, but after the 
defeat of Verneuil, his party was terror- 
stricken, and continued to disintegrate in every 
sense until the coming of Joan of Arc. Many 
of the princes went over to the English side, 
others retired to their own principalities as in- 
dependent rulers; others extorted portions of 

51 



52 CHARLES VII 

the Dauphin's domains. His revenues were 
robbed; even former friends calumniated him; 
scarcely one of his own obeyed him. A saying 
was current, that in France any one might take 
what he could hold. The Dauphin's house 
lacked necessaries, as did he and the queen, in 
matters of food and clothing. Things grew 
steadily worse. But, according to the testi- 
mony of Archbishop Gelu, his friend and coun- 
selor, the prince's patience and confidence never 
failed, and he relied much on prayer and alms. 

Yolande now negotiated the appointment of 
Arthur, Duke of Eichemont, as Constable. He 
had inclined to the English side with his 
brother, the Duke of Brittany ; but he loved them 
little. His rule in the name of the Dauphin was 
a tyrannical one, and equivalent to the latter 's 
abdication. Eichemont appointed Giac, a 
ruffian, as first chamberlain. Amongst other 
crimes, Giac had murdered in a manner not to 
be described his pregnant wife in order to marry 
a handsome and wealthy widow. The Bishop 
of Poitiers protested against the robbery of the 
treasury; and Giac proposed to throw him into 
the river; but another chief counselor of the 
Dauphin imprisoned the Bishop, nor could the 
prince obtain his release until he pai'd a ransom 
of a thousand crowns. Personal encounters 
occurred at the very door of the Dauphin's 
apartment. At last Eichemont took Giac and 
drowned him. Such crimes in his presence 
caused the unfortunate prince to utter loud cries 



CHABLES VII 53 

of anguish. The Constable next put Tremoille 
over the royal household against the royal pro- 
test. This traitorous scoundrel continually 
blocked the enterprises of Joan of Arc; and, in 
the end, probably betrayed her. He was eight- 
een years older than the Dauphin, over whom 
he ruled for six years, until, at last, taken from 
his bed in the king's castle of Chinon, he was 
stabbed, though not to death, and hurled from 
power. A favorite of Jean sans Peur, he mar- 
ried, in cold-blooded calculation, the Countess of 
Auvergne, widow of a royal prince, and ten 
years older than himself. He quickly got pos- 
session of her towns and fortresses, abandoned 
her in poverty, and when she died in 1423, his 
henchmen ravaged Auvergne in the name of the 
Burgundian cause. Tremoille was believed, 
with great probability, to have instigated the 
murder of Giac, in order to marry his widow; 
which he did five months later. He turned the 
Dauphin against Richemont, whose promises 
and administration had failed, and bought off 
for a large sum taken from the royal treasury 
the assassins employed by Richemont to kill 
him. The funds of the Dauphin disappeared 
rapidly under the hands of Tremoille, while he 
advanced to the prince sums at an enormous 
interest. He alienated portions of the royal 
domain, prevented taxation on his own estates, 
collected money on all merchandise passing his 
castles, employed common brigands in order to 
share their profits, and obtained from the un- 



54 CHAELES VII 

fortunate Dauphin letters of amnesty for all liis 
misdeeds. The prince was reduced to misery 
so extreme, that he pawned his mirror, after his 
cincture and helmet, and was in debt to his serv- 
ants and tradesmen. 

Early training and later misfortune had made 
Charles religious, pious, and moral. There is 
no serious authority to contradict the proofs of 
his piety and morality at this early epoch. The 
flippant historians who say that Charles used to 
pray for hours and go to confession daily in the 
midst of his excesses are in opposition with the 
chroniclers who knew the matter best — Gelu, 
Duclerc, Brehal, etc. His latest and best his- 
torian, de Beaucourt, accepts and sustains this 
view. The scandalous disorders of the last 
twenty years of his life had not yet been fore- 
shadowed. Nor would Joan of Arc, who re- 
proached the Duke of Lorraine as a prophetess, 
have gone to the court stained by the presence 
of the Sorel concubine. According to Beau- 
court, it was only in 1442 or 1443 that Charles 
began his disorderly course ; all his early years 
are illustrated with good deeds. His faith, 
piety, and sufferings were the cause of the 
laudatory titles bestowed on him by Joan of 
Arc, and of her touching loyalty. In her last 
hour, under the shadow of death in the cemetery 
of Rouen, the friendless Maid interrupted with 
virile courage the unworthy preacher who black- 
ened unjustly the fair fame of her ''gentle 
Dauphin. ' ' 



CHAPTER V 

CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 

BEEBUYER, Bishop of Mans, a contemporary, 
wrote of the time when Joan of Arc ap- 
peared, that France was a land of brigandage, 
in which it was vain to appeal for justice. The 
war was conducted by razzias, the people of the 
invaded territory being dragged to the for- 
tresses of lawless adventurers or brigand nobles 
— true dens of thieves — ^where, if not ransomed, 
they died of outrages to which they were sub- 
jected. The armies of the royal cause were 
composed of adventurers of many nations, 
drawn together by the hope of pillage. The 
Scots were numerous, and of such a reputation, 
that their annihilation at the battle of Vemeuil 
was considered by the people a compensation 
for defeat. The Irish, who were many in the 
armies of England, enjoyed no better fame. 
The Lombards and other Italians were noted 
for leaving the battle to load themselves with 
booty. The Normans, fallen under English 
sway, complained to the king of the wholesale 
burnings of his soldiers; but received the an- 
swer, that such was the usage of war. De Mor- 
viUiers, president of the parliament of Paris 
under English rule, used to pierce the tongues 

55 



56 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 

of those who spoke against his manner of 
administration. The Armagnacs, or party of 
the French king, were no better than the Bur- 
gundians, and often worse. One military high- 
wayman of their side, a Spanish adventurer 
named Rodrigo, left his name as a synonym for 
brutality. Yet, because useful to his party, he 
was able to marry an illegitimate daughter of 
the royal House of Bourbon, and became 
brother-in-law of the Count de Clermont. An- 
other ruffian — samples these! — in the French 
cause, the Bastard of Vars, hung up on a tree 
as many as a hundred at a time who could not 
obtain their release by ransom. Finally, he was 
hung himself, also, in the midst of what he 
called the bunches of grapes. Outrages on 
women reached such a point of brutal baseness, 
that parents and husbands were forced to wit- 
ness them. The lawlessness of the mercenaries 
was such that towns, even of their own party, 
refused, on the advice of their Bishops also, to 
admit them. Normandy, particularly, when 
taken by the English, was infested by brigands 
as by wolves. The English massacred them 
without pity (for they were especially hated by 
the brigands), and offered a reward for their 
capture or murder, just as is offered for the 
extermination of wild beasts. It is related, that 
in one year as many as ten thousand of these 
outlaws or their harborers were decapitated or 
hanged. Centuries did not suffice to obliterate 
the traces of such evils. The open country was 



CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 57 

SO deserted that wolves entered at night into the 
streets of Paris. In this capital itself homes 
were abandoned by thousands. From the Loire 
to the Seine, says the contemporary Bishop 
Bassin, from the Seine to the Somme, the 
peasants were slain or driven away. Lands re- 
mained uncultivated year after year. He makes 
a long and fearful list, not at all complete, of 
desert provinces. A handful of people re- 
mained in towns which had contained several 
thousands; and the forests gained on the 
hitherto fertile fields so the saying ran, ''The 
English brought the woods to France." 

Meanwhile the English invaders pushed on 
their campaign. Montague, Earl of Salisbury, 
reputed the ablest English commander after 
Warwick, landed in France in 1428, ravaged the 
Beauce country and the neighborhood of Or- 
leans, and laid siege to this city. He was killed 
however; and the command devolved on the 
Earl of Suffolk. To deepen the hopelessness of 
the French cause, an English convoy of sup- 
plies, chiefly herrings, it appears, because of 
Lent, defeated at Eouvray, on February 12th, 
1429, a French army thrice its size, and with the 
advantage of choosing its own position. Then 
it was that the despairing Dauphin thought of 
abandoning the contest, and of fleeing even be- 
yond the borders of France. North of the 
Loire, nothing remained to him but the fortress 
of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and the de- 
voted city of Tournay. In this dark hour Joan 



08 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE 

of Arc took the field. Her prophetic announce- 
ment of the disaster of Eouvray on the day on 
which it occurred finally decided the captain of 
Vaucouleurs to accept her story and her mis- 
sion; so he gave her armor and a guard, and 
sent her, **come what may," to the Dauphin at 
Chinon. 



CHAPTER VI 

Joan's eably yeaes 



Section 1. — Her Birthplace 

**T WAS born at Domremy," said Joan to lier 
X. judges at Eonen, "which forms one village 
with Greux ; the principal church is at Greux. ' ' 
The little village of three hundred souls, run- 
ning along the highway and the placid Meuse, is 
still as small and poor as it was in the days of 
the Maid. The church beside which she lived is 
there yet, though changed ; and portions of her 
cottage are built into the present house. The 
stream still flows beside it into the river ; but the 
cemetery, then by the cottage and church, has 
been transferred beyond the village. The foun- 
tain at which Joan and her childish com- 
panions used to drink has been identified. Near 
it stood the "^fair May-tree;" and above still 
spreads the thick wood of oaks and other trees, 
the famous Bois Chenu. 

The Meuse was the boundary between the 
Duchy of Lorraine to the east, and of Cham- 
pagne to the west. Champagne, like Lorraine, 
followed the cause of Burgundy, which was on 
its southern border; hence Archbishop Gelu 
wrote to Charles VII, as if in warning, that 
Joan came from the country of Lorraine and 

59 



60 joan's eaely yeaes 

Burgundy. In fact the Lorraine country was 
considered to extend far beyond the limits of 
the actual duchy. For, in this broad sense, 
Barrels, Neufchateau, Vaucouleurs, and other 
territories, including even a part of Champagne, 
were in Lorraine land. Strictly speaking, how- 
ever, and, especially, speaking politically and 
geographically, neither border of the Meuse be- 
longed either to Lorraine or Champagne. The 
eastern side belonged to the principality of the 
Bishop of Toul, whose diocesan Joan was; and 
the western side, up to Domremy, belonged to 
the duchy of Bar. The little stream which sepa- 
rated the house of Joan, on the north, from 
the rest of the village, to the south, was the 
boundary between the Barrois ground and that 
of the castle of Vaucouleurs. This castellany 
was the immediate property of the crown of 
France. This is clear from the document by 
which Charles VII, at the request of Joan, ex- 
empted from taxation Domremy and Greux. A 
few years ago there was found in the archives 
of Vaucouleurs an authentic copy of the act by 
which, at the instance of the Bishop of Toul, 
the castle and its dependencies were ceded to the 
king of France. 

Greux, which formed one parish with 
Domremy, is about a third of a mile to the north. 
It was built in from the river up the rising 
ground. Destroyed in the Swedish invasion in 
the seventeenth century, it was rebuilt on the 
level land ; but the site of the church and ceme- 




JOAX OF ARC'S TRIUMriiAM- K.XTRV IMu OKLKA.Nb 



Joan's early yeaks 61 

tery were preserved. Joan often passed 
through here to visit her beloved shrine of Our 
Lady of Bermond, two miles away, solitary in 
the midst of the wood on the upland which 
looked down on the Meuse. In front of Dom- 
remy, and connected by a bridge, stood the 
Castle of the Island, as it was called, the posses- 
sion of the Bourlemont family, the lords of 
Domremy. This was rented by the inhabitants 
in the time of Joan; and served, at times, as a 
refuge for their cattle. Seven miles south of 
Domremy, and almost encircled by the Meuse, 
was Neufchateau, dominated by the fortress of 
the Duke of Lorraine. And eleven miles to the 
north was the strong town of Vaucouleurs, 
crowned by its castle, which overhung it, and 
commanded the route to Germany. From here 
Joan of Arc started to visit the Dauphin, and 
relieve Orleans. 

The valley of the Meuse is about a mile across 
at Domremy. Many streams make the river 
overflow in the rainy season ; and thus the level 
land produced excellent hay, and could scarcely 
produce anything else. "The straggling 
river," writes Andrew Lang, "broken by little 
isles, and fringed with reeds, flows clear in 
summer. . . . The long green tresses of the 
water weeds wave and float, the banks are gar- 
dens of water flowers, the meadows are 
fragrant with meadow-sweet. After the 
autumn rains the river spreads in shallow 
lagoons across the valley, reflecting the purple 



62 . joan's eably years 

and scarlet of the vineyards." The sides of 
the valley, rising gradually, are covered with 
cultivated fields and gardens, with vineyards 
and fruit trees, and farther up, where they be- 
come steep, support the level oak woods. The 
scene is peaceful, and in season perfumed. The 
church of St. Remi, apostle of the Franks, was 
very small, with a priest who depended upon 
Greux. Although situated almost in the center 
of the vast, rich diocese of Toul, it was one of 
the poorest of the parishes. Here for five years 
continued weekly, at times daily, the heavenly 
education of Joan of Arc. For seventeen years 
she embalmed with the virtues of heaven her 
native village. We have the testimony of more 
than thirty witnesses — nobles, priests, officials, 
soldiers, men and women, as to her pure and 
pious childliood. 

Section 2. — Joan's Family and Its Condition. 
Her House and Name 

''^My surname," she said, "is d'Arc or 
Romee. In my country the daughters keep the 
surnames of their mothers." Of her father, 
Jacques or James d'Arc, we know nothing be- 
fore our acquaintance with him in Domremy. 
Her mother was known as Isabelle de Vouthon ; 
that is, from the town of Vouthon, seven kilo- 
meters west of Domremy. A brother or uncle 
of her mother was parish-priest of Sermaize, 
thirty leagues away ; and her mother 's brother, 
Jean de Vouthon, had a son a religious at Notre 



Joan's early yeabs 63 

Dame de Cheminon. He was probably assistant 
to his uncle or grand-uncle. This cousin be- 
came a military chaplain to Joan at the re- 
quest of Charles VII. Peter and John, two of 
her brothers, fought with her. The husband of 
her cousin Mengotte, sister of her chaplain, was 
killed at the siege of Sermaize in 1423. Joan 
was then eleven years old. The widow married 
soon after. M. Luce fancifully sees in this 
death, a cause of Joan's inspiration. The 
simple-hearted and upright Durand Laxart 
married Jeanne de Vausseuil, a cousin of 
Joan's; and for this reason as well as for that 
of his age, he was called, according to popular 
usage, the uncle of Joan. He must have had 
much of the enthusiast and the hero in him. He 
was Joan's first friend and helper, loyal and 
brave, so that he was ready himself almost 
alone to take her to the Dauphin at Chinon to 
begin her military career. He went to see Joan 
at Eheims after the coronation. In the king's 
letters conferring the state and title of nobility 
on the family of Joan, her three brothers are 
mentioned, but no sister. Yet Joan had one or 
several sisters. The witnesses at the second 
trial speak of them ; and she herself speaks of a 
yet surviving sister to Dunois after the crown- 
ing at Eheims. The one sister of whom we are 
certain, Catherine, had died before Joan left 
home. She was married it seems, to Colin de 
G-reux, who appears as a witness to Joan's life 
in the Rehabilitation. Jacquemin, her eldest 



64 joan's early tears 

brother, was already married in 1419, for he ap- 
pears then as having a house of his own ; hence 
he could not follow Joan to the war, for he had 
to provide for his father and mother. We find 
his grandson, Claude du Lys in 1502. Du Lys, 
of the lily, i.e. of the royal lily, or emblem, of 
France, was the name of nobility given to 
Joan's family by the king. Jean, Joan's 
youngest brother, was made after the war pro- 
vost of Vermandois and captain of Chartres — a 
post apparently too high for his simple birth 
and education; hence he was transferred to the 
provostship of Vaucouleurs. Pierre, the other 
brother who accompanied Joan, was taken 
prisoner ; and when released, received from the 
duke of Orleans, the He aux Boeufs, an island in 
the Loire near Orleans. 

All the witnesses who speak of Joan, 
especially the most intimate, such as her god- 
parents, refer to her family as being poor. The 
word employed is lahoureurs, poorer tillers of 
the soil, earning their living by constant labor 
in their little fields. There is nothing to dis- 
prove this. Joan's father was one of the two 
who leased the abandoned Castle of the Island 
from its owner as a place of safety for the 
cattle ; but each of the two had to find five securi- 
ties. It may be remarked en passant that there 
is never mention of the people rushing to the 
Castle for protection from armed raiders. 
Again Joan's father is called doyen of Dom- 
remy; but the word, in the time and circum- 



joan's early years 65 

stances, was equivalent to sergeant, serviens, 
i.e. one who served notices, summoned jurors, 
etc. Such public servants were often of quite 
lowly station. 

The existence of the little home of Joan 
d'Arc, even though somewhat changed, enables 
us to reconstruct the domestic scene in which 
she moved. Montaigne visited the house, he 
says, in 1580 ; and was shown the escutcheon of 
nobility given by the king — a straight sword 
pointing upwards on an azure field, bearing a 
crown on its point, and having the golden 
fleur-de-lis at the sides. The house already en- 
larged, was bought in 1586 by the lady Louise 
de Stainville. The little garden, scene of her 
first vision, seems to have disappeared. But 
the cemetery remained on one side ; and still, on 
the other, the modest home of the widow Mus- 
nier. The little neighbor, Simonin Musnier, 
was visited and consoled by Joan — as he said, 
''she raised his heart." Before being repaired 
in 1818, Joan's home was in a neglected and 
ruinous condition; yet it attracted illustrious 
visitors, especially from over the Rhine. As 
the house now stands, an upper portion has 
been added, and, probably enough, a room on 
the ground, called the Room of the Brothers. 
The more authentic portions are the larger 
room in front of the entrance, apparently the 
living, and perhaps, the sleeping, room of the 
family ; and the little chamber opening from this 
at the end opposite the entrance. This seems to 



66 joan's early years 

have been the little sanctuary of Joan herself. 
It is in irregular rectangle, lighted imperfectly 
by a small window which looks toward the 
church. In 1818 it still retained traces of the 
chimney and fireplace; and here Joan would 
often pass the night while she gave her bed 
to the poor. 

Kneeling in the actual church of Domremy, 
we are sure, notwithstanding the restorations, to 
be on the sacred ground bedewed with Joan's 
tears in her long and frequent supplications. 
The small edifice has been enlarged by a choir 
and gallery; and its original easterly liturgical 
direction has been changed. The present door 
is where the sanctuary was, and the altar is near 
where stood the door through which Joan so 
often entered. It is no longer possible to trace 
the resting place of her relatives and friends; 
the cemetery has disappeared. In 1550 we find 
Claude du Lys, a grand nephew of Joan, parish 
priest of her native church. He leaves a legacy 
for the chapel of Our Lady of La Pucelle, where 
he wishes to be buried amidst his relatives. It 
appears that before him there were other priests 
of his family in charge of Domremy. 

The holy water and baptismal fonts are very 
likely the same as in Joan 's day. Here she was 
baptized by the parish-priest M. Jean Minet, as 
she believed, she said; but if so, M. Minet must 
have died in her infancy ; for the Abbe Front is 
given as the pastor during her childhood and 
early youth. 



Joan's eaely yeaes 67 

The ''beautiful May tree," or fairy beech, so 
fatal to Joan in the murderous council of her 
calumniators at Eouen, stood at about two thou- 
sand yards south of Domremy, and near the 
road and the fountain from which the little chil- 
dren drank on their holiday rambles. The tree 
stood about half-way between Domremy, where 
some of the Bourlemonts, lords of the place, 
lived, and the family castle farther south; it 
thus served as a family rendezvous. 

Joan was singularly endowed with common 
sense. She believed in no fairies, even in 
earliest childhood; and, as she became famous, 
was extraordinarily shrewd in discovering 
fraud in persons and things deemed preter- 
natural. All the historic documents agree that 
she was never seen alone before the May tree, 
nor did any idle rumor accuse her of lonely 
visits. Only when she left for the war, some 
w^ord was reported to her by her brothers, to the 
effect that her inspiration came from the fairies. 
This she strenuously denied. She said at 
Eouen that after she had begun to hear her 
Voices she took the least possible part in 
childish amusements. If she sang, she seldom 
or never danced; her godmother said she did 
not dance at all. She wreathed at the May tree 
garlands for Our Lady of Domremy ; but, while 
she sometimes hung garlands on the tree as 
other children did, she never hung them there 
in honor of any saint. Only once did she hear 
her Voices near the fountain; nevertheless she 



68 joan's early years 

heard them day and night, at least four or five 
times a week for five years. As to the famous 
oak wood, standing far above the tree and foun- 
tain, she never heard that it was the haunt of 
fairies ; and never heard of any prophecy while 
at Domremy, that a wonderful maiden would 
come from that woodland border. It was only 
afterwards in France that she was told of such 
a prophecy; nor did she then believe it. It may 
be explained that the expression ''to go into 
France" was an ordinary one at the time, and 
had reference to what was really the heart of 
France, the peculiarly royal domain of the He 
de France, the country, namely, around Paris. 
" To go into France, ' ' was said in places always 
and entirely French, and directly under the 
crown or royal family. Joan never heard her 
Voices, as far as we can know, in the oak wood ; 
nor does any document state that she passed 
through it. We may be sure, however, that she 
did, when visiting almost ever Saturday her be- 
loved shrine of Our Lady of Bermont. Some of 
her imaginative historians, slow to admit 
angelic visitation, find the awakening of her 
military spirit and genius in the mystic solitude 
of the oak woods, so awesome to the Celtic soul 
(which Joan had not) ; and in the insinuating 
rustle of forest leaves, and the hallowed ringing 
of evening bells, the source, and sole reality, of 
all Joan's visions. 

It is as impressive as remarkable that Joan 
invariably gives her name as La Pucelle, the 



joan's early yeaes 69 

Little Maiden. Only once, as far as we have 
any document to show, does she give the name 
of d'Arc; that is, in the first session of her trial 
at Eouen. Even then she says she was called 
d'Arc or Eomee. La Pucelle was the name she 
gave when she first saw the Dauphin. So in 
her letters always, and conversation, sometimes 
putting the name of Jeanne before La Pucelle. 
Her Voices called her Jeanne La Pucelle, 
Daughter of God. All documents attest that 
she was universally known by the name of La 
Pucelle. Even Cauchon, in his charge at 
Rouen, said she was ''commonly called La 
Pucelle;" and the name or title continues to be 
used in all the Process and documents of the 
trial. Moreover, before leaving Domremy, she 
was Imown and called by this delightful and 
heavenly name. As to the title, "Maid of Or- 
leans," it is never found in any contemporary 
document. 

Section 3. — Her Birth and the Chronology of 
Her Life 

Joan was born on the night of the Epiphany, 
wrote Perceval de Boulainvilliers, counselor 
and chamberlain of Charles VII, to the Duke of 
Milan, brother of the ill-starred Valentine, who 
died of grief because of the murder of her hus- 
band, the Duke of Orleans, by the Duke of 
Burgundy, John the Fearless. The year of her 
birth, 1412, may be considered sufficiently cer- 
tain from the most trustworthy documents. ' ' I 



70 joan's early years 

am about nineteen years old," said Joan, at 
lier trial, February 21, 1431 — exactly nineteen 
years and forty-five days from January 6, 1412. 
The seventh of the twelve Articles of Eouen 
says that she left home at the age of seventeen ; 
and the Promoter at the Rehabilitation said she 
died at the age of about nineteen. 

The first apparition seems to have been in the 
summer of 1424 — Joan says ''in the sum- 
mer." In her journey from Vaucouleurs to 
Chinon, February 23rd to March 6th, 1429, she 
said her heavenly visitors had been coming for 
four or five years. Four years as a minimum 
would bring us to 1425 — February or March; 
therefore to the preceding summer, of 1424. 
Other words of hers confirm this year. At 
Rouen she constantly keeps to the statement 
that the visions began when she was "about 
thirteen years" — in her thirteenth year. Thus 
she agrees with Alain Chartier, secretary to 
Charles VII. Thus, too, Boulainvilliers, who 
says Joan had been visited by her Voices for 
nearly five years when they became more urgent 
as Salisbury pressed on his campaign in 
France; he laid siege to Orleans in October, 
1428. Towards the Ascension, 1428, Joan goes 
to Baudricourt at Vaucouleurs. On the 4th or 
5th of May, eve of the Ascension, she strikes 
her first blow at Orleans by the seizure of the 
bastille of St. Loup. On the eve of the Ascen- 
sion, May 14th, 1430, she is made prisoner at 
Compiegne. 



Joan's early years 71 

Now in 1424, the Ascension fell on the 1st of 
June. Joan was fasting, she said, on the eve. 
May 31st. And so we may conclude with prob- 
ability that the Prince of the Heavenly Host 
descended to see the little child, who had al- 
ready, so long before the prescribed age, begun 
to fast. 

It may be convenient to refer her to the flight 
of the people of Domremy with their cattle to 
Neufchateau, nine miles to the south. It is the 
only flight we read of ; and so we conclude that 
Joan's vocation did not come from fierce and 
frequent razzias which she witnessed, and from 
the lurid fires of flaming villages. Once, in- 
deed, the church was injured by fire, and some 
houses of the village were burned, at least, in 
part. But the people, if they fled, must have 
promptly returned, for they continued to go to 
Mass at the neighboring church of Greux. We 
cannot even say that the church and houses 
were burned by the armed band, the rumor of 
whose approach caused the fear and flight of 
the people. In 1425 one such band drove off 
the cattle of Domremy; but seven or eight men 
sufficed to bring back the cattle, even from the 
strong castle, or retreat, of the raiders. Wit- 
nesses speak of only one such fear and flight; 
and it squares well with the driving off of the 
cattle in 1425. Joan was then fourteen years 
of age. We have the testimony of Boulain- 
villiers that the family of Joan suffered no 
misfortune during her years with them ; and all 



72 joan's eaely yeaes 

that we know of life at Domremy — the uninter- 
rupted cultivation of the fields, the happy family 
reunions of the Bourlemonts, the childish play 
at fountain and May tree — confirm his words. 

We are told by all that testified at Joan's 
Eehabilitation that she remained only four or 
five days at Neufchateau, and always with her 
parents; and that she was longing to get back 
to her home. There is, indeed, a statement in 
the Process of her trial that she spent fifteen 
days at Neufchateau. She may have returned 
thither later, to visit, let us suppose, one of her 
godmothers, who resided there. Or, perhaps a 
better explanation is that the scribe at Rouen 
made a mistake in his Roman numerals when 
copying them — a thing not at all inevitable. In 
any case there is no foundation for the silly 
story that Joan's ecclesiastical trial at Toul for 
alleged breach of promise, as the villainous 
D'Estivet charged, occurred at this date. 
There was clearly no time for such. The real 
time of this plot of her parents to keep her at 
home appears to have been when she had left 
Domremy, and was staying some weeks at Vau- 
couleurs, after ber first visit to Baudricourt, 
May 13th, 1429. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE UNFOLDING OP THE FLOWER — JOAN's MANNER 
OF LIFE AT DOMREMY 

Section 1. — As She Appeared to Others 

THE Pontifical Delegates appointed for the 
public vindication of Joan after her 
death, having failed to find the information pro- 
cured by Cauchon at Domremy regarding her 
childhood and early youth, determined to send 
thither a committee of prudent and venerable 
persons, in order to gather the most trustworthy 
testimony possible. We have in consequence 
an unparalleled array of witnesses of every sta- 
tion of life, poor and wealthy, simple and 
learned, who, under oath, declare all they knew 
of their marvelous little compatriot. If Joan 
had been yet living, she would have been forty- 
five years of age. So, of the adult generation 
of her day, there are several witnesses. Those 
who were children, are now, at the trial, of 
mature age. We have the testimony of thirty- 
four sworn witnesses — relatives, neighbors, ac- 
quaintances, peasants, soldiers, nobles, priests 
— who tell what they knew personally. 
The appointed committee heard witnesses at 
Domremy, Vaucouleurs (where Joan's brother 

73 



74 THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 

was then provost) and at Toul, the seat of 
the Bishop. It is noticeable that the oath is 
frequently repeated in the course of individual 
testimony. 

The general outline of Joan's young life is 
traced by those who knew her intimately with 
remarkable uniformity. The simple outward 
facts of her pure and pious childhood were hid- 
den from no one. She was distinguished by 
special goodness and piety, very gentle and com- 
passionate, simple and confiding, yet prudent 
and intelligent, extremely modest, loving labor, 
never impatient, not without girlish timidity, 
yet most constant in duty. Nothing whatsoever 
foreshadowed the dauntless warrior Maid who 
rushed into the thickest of the fierce affray. 
She was unusually pious at home and in the 
field. Morn and eve she was at Divine service 
in the church if she could be. She was seen 
frequently at Confession and Holy Communion. 
She used to kneel in the fields at the sound of 
the Angelus, or when the bell called to the church. 
Here she was often seen retired in a corner, or 
kneeling upright or lying prostrate on the 
ground and bathed in tears before the Crucifix 
or the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows. Yet 
she was joyous ; although her companions some- 
times made fun of her for her piety — it is the 
only reproach we ever hear made. * ' Every one 
loved her, ' ' said the old man, Jean Morel. Her 
neighbor and intimate acquaintance, Isabellette 
Gerardin, testified that Joan was * ' simple, good, 



THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWEK 75 

pure, devout, fearing God. She loved to give 
alms, and gave the poor shelter for the night. 
She used to lie by the fireside and give her bed 
to the poor. She was not often seen on the 
roads, but was frequently seen in the church, 
whither she loved to go; and as she did not 
dance, she was often criticized. She was fond 
of work, spinning, turning up the ground with 
her father, doing whatever housework needed 
to be done, and sometimes watched the cattle." 
Money — and she had not much — left over from 
charity, she gave for Masses. Perrin, the 
sacristan, she gently chided for carelessness in 
ringing the evening Angelus; and promised 
presents of wool, etc., if he were more exact. 
She helped her three brothers in their toil in the 
fields ; and became in turn the little village shep- 
herdess watching the united flocks. This, how- 
ever, was an exceptional employment; and as 
she grew older it became rarer. We must, 
then, renounce the poetic legend that Joan 
was a shepherdess. She was usually in the 
house as the years advanced ; and was very good 
at spinning and sewing. She had special 
friends amongst the children ; but preferred the 
company of women of prudence and piety. The 
dearest joy of her childhood was a weekly pil- 
grimage to the beloved shrine of Our Lady of 
Bermont. On Saturdays she used to carry gar- 
lands there, and place lighted candles on the 
altar. The sanctuary stood at the edge of the 
great oak wood, where its ruins still are seen. 



76 THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 

At the foot of the hill was a spring, from which 
the children drank on their holiday rambles. 
Near it stood a beautiful beech-tree, the Beau 
Mai, or fairy tree, under the shade of which the 
children ate their little loaves on Laetare Sun- 
day, probably in commemoration of the multi- 
plication of loaves, recorded in the Gospel of 
that Sunday. Around the Beau Mai the little 
ones danced, and on its branches hung garlands 
of flowers. Two hundred years after, Joan's 
biographer, Edmond Eicher, saw the tree and 
the same joyous games. 

Of the sinlessness of Joan's life we have, be- 
sides the testimony of so many witnesses, her 
own direct, frank, and simple declaration before 
her judges at Eouen. Although her heavenly 
guides, St. Catherine and St. Margaret, told her 
to confess frequently, she never remembered 
she said, that she had committed any mortal 
sin; and ''May it please God," she added, "that 
I never may do so." Her Saints came to her 
up to the hour of her death; and she believed, 
that if she were in mortal sin, they would not 
come. 

It is not true to say that Joan knew nothing 
of her faith but the Pater, Ave, and Credo. 
Her entire life shows the contrary. She was 
very well instructed, indeed, in all that con- 
cerned the excellent ordering of a Christian life, 
and in the doctrines and practices of the 
Church. Would that all Christians knew the 
mysteries of Our Lord's life as she did! Who 



THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 77 

knew Heaven better? She knew at the age of 
twelve what a vow of virginity meant ; and she 
understood the position and authority of the 
Pope far better than Bishop Cauchon and all 
the Doctors of the University of Paris. The 
witnesses declared that she was "sufficiently in- 
structed in the Catholic faith as girls of her 
age and condition usually were." She herself 
said that her mother was her only teacher ; and 
the mother was best. 

Joan went sometimes in the evening to 
sew with her little friends in their humble 
homes; and if they were ill, she had a special 
gift of consoling them. She had two little 
companions who were especially dear, Mengette 
and Hauviette. They used to sew, spin, and do 
the housework together. Hauviette heard the 
parish-priest say that Joan went to Confes- 
sion too frequently ; and often she saw her blush 
when people said she was too pious. This little 
friend, when she heard that Joan had gone 
away, wept bitterly; for, she said, *'I loved her 
very much for her goodness, and because she 
was my companion. ' ' But she bade good-by to 
Mengette, and commended her to God, as she 
herself was going away to Vaucouleurs. Jean 
Waterin, who was employed as a laborer by 
Joan's father, tells how, when others amused 
themselves in free moments in the field, Joan 
went aside to pray, and they made fun of her. 

'*I grew up with Jeanne La Pucelle," said 
Simonin Musnier, "and I know she was good. 



78 THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 

simple, devout, revering God and the Saints. 
She loved the church and places consecrated to 
God, and frequented them much. She used to 
console the sick, and used to give alms to the 
poor. I know this by experience; for when I 
was a child, she came to see me when I was 
sick, and raised up my heart." He tells how 
she used to break the clods of earth in the field 
with a spade or hoe, and guided the plow be- 
side her father. 

Thus by rude toil was the hardy little maiden 
prepared for the harder life of camp, and battle. 
How we love to contemplate the saintly youth- 
ful figure preparing the ground in spring with 
her father and brothers, or in prayerful solitude 
watching flock or herd, or in autumn in the toil 
of the harvest ! In fancy we see her kneeling 
as the church bell rings over village and field, 
or leaving her occupation to attend Divine wor- 
ship. The parish-priest said he saw her there 
whenever he performed the sacred functions; 
and that he thought she went too often to Con- 
fession — because, no doubt, she had so little to 
confess. She declared under oath at Rouen 
that she obeyed her parents always and in all 
things, except in the matter of the marriage 
which they tried to force her to, citing her even 
before the Bishop ; and in the matter of her vo- 
cation to save her country. "When the rumor 
spread that she was going away, because she 
had already been to Vaucouleurs, her parents 
kept her, she said, "in great subjection," but 



THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWEK 79 

she still obeyed them. Her faith had nothing of 
the mere child in it ; it was astonishingly strong 
and robust. *'I would do nothing," she said, 
' ' against the Christian faith ; and if the priests 
pointed out anything in my life against the faith 
established by Our Lord, I would at once re- 
nounce it." ''Would that Heaven had given 
me a child like this," said the Chevalier Albert 
d'Ourches, who had known Joan as she began 
her military career. 

Section 2. — Her Heavenly Visitors 

The whole course of Joan's life was inspired 
and guided in all its details by her heavenly 
visitors, St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. 
Margaret. She was more in communion with 
heaven than with earth. Her own unwavering 
assertion, a hundred times repeated, and the 
otherwise inexplicable series of extraordinary 
events, reveal the supernatural guidance that 
never failed. Joan's honesty of thought and 
speech have never been questioned. Her singu- 
lar good sense, and even shrewdness when 
needed; her freedom from any tinge of super- 
stition or craving for the preternatural; her 
great and decided reserve and prudence when 
speaking of her ''Voices" — whether to friends 
or foes — all this makes as certain as human 
testimony can make the fact of heavenly guid- 
ance from her childhood to the hour of death. 
Her Voices, or Saints, appeared and spoke sev- 
eral times each week; often daily; and in 



80 THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 

critical, fateful moments, almost constantly. 
Deny her declaration regarding these Voices, 
and we have no longer Joan of Arc, but a girl 
without sense, continually under gross illusion, 
yet doing everything well and perfectly, and 
performing a succession of martial deeds unsur- 
passed in human history. Ever wisest in coun- 
sel and most prudent in action, foretelling con- 
stantly what was about to come to pass, chang- 
ing the course of French and English history, 
crowning her hopeless king and expelling the 
irresistible invader — explain all this on the 
theory of illusion, if you can. 

The heavenly visits began in her thirteenth 
year. At her trial in Eouen, when she was 
nineteen years of age, she said. "It is now 
seven years since one day in summer, near noon, 
in the garden of our house, on the right hand 
side, towards the church, St. Michael ap- 
peared," the first of all her supernatural 
visitors. He was not alone, but accompanied by 
many angels of paradise. '^I saw them with 
my bodily eyes as well as I see you yourselves 
(judges of Rouen). When they went away I 
wept, and wished indeed they would take me 
with them." She told her judges that there 
were many things told by her Voices which she 
would not reveal ; and when Bishop Cauchon in- 
sisted, she simply told him to pass on to some- 
thing else. "I have told my king," she said; 
"but I have no permission to tell you." Her 
courage, self-possession, and wit are delightful. 



THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWEE 81 

They asked her if St. Michael were clothed. 
She answered, "Do you suppose God could not 
give him something to wear ? ' ' And when they 
foolishly inquired if he had any hair on his head, 
she retorted, "Why should they have cut it 
off?" "I will answer," she continued, "what 
concerns 3^our Process; but you will have no 
more, even though you cut off my head." That 
very day of her trial, she admitted, her Voices 
had spoken to her at morning, noon, and evening 
Angelus. 

When St. Michael first appeared, she was 
very much' frightened. After a third visit she 
knew it was St. Michael. "The Voice was 
venerable," she said; "and has always pro- 
tected me well, and I have understood it well. 
It taught me to lead a good life and frequent 
the church ; and it told me that I must of neces- 
sity go into France." Two or three times a 
week the Archangel came, telling her, no doubt 
fully enough about "the pity that was in 
France" — the fearful state of the unhappy 
country; and that she would raise the siege of 
the city of Orleans, and that Eobert Baudricourt 
of the fortress of Vaucouleurs would give her 
guides to lead her. After her first heavenly 
vision she made a vow of virginity • ' for as long 
as it would please God. ' ' Incidentally we learn 
from her answer to her judges that she was fast- 
ing on that day of her vision (when she was not 
yet quite thirteen years of age), which appears 
to have been the eve of the Ascension. They 



82 THE UNFOLDING OF THE FLOWER 

asked then also whether she had fasted 
all the actual Lent, notwithstanduig all 
the ill-treatment she endured in her prison at 
Eouen. She answered affirmatively. Joan 
often spoke of the strength given her by St. 
Michael, the Prince of the heavenly host. It 
was needed for her heroic career, her invincible 
constancy, her fearful martyrdom. The heav- 
enly visitants came in the fields, the church, the 
sanctuary of Bermont — wherever her duty or 
piety called her — never in the mysterious oak 
wood. 

The Ajigel of the Incarnation, St. Gabriel, 
also visited and imparted fortitude to Joan. 
But most frequent of all were the visits of St. 
Catherine and St. Margaret. These were 
promised by St. Michael, and the little disciple 
was bidden obey them in all things. The 
philosopher Saint Catherine of Alexandria, so 
popular in the East, and in the West in the 
Middle Ages, confounded the Eoman Emperor 
Maximin and all his wise men. After the hor- 
rors of imprisonment and torture, she was be- 
headed at the age of eighteen. St. Margaret 
of Antioch had to flee from a pagan home for the 
sake of her faith. Her heroic constancy in pre- 
serving her virginity brought on her fearful 
sufferings. Uninjured by the flames into which 
she was cast, she was beheaded, about the age, 
apparently, of Joan of Arc. These two Saints 
appeared to Joan with crowns of ineffable 
splendor. They were charged specially with 



THE UNFOLDING OP THE FLOWER 83 

her formation and protection. They showed 
the greatest familiarity to their little sister of 
earth, so that she embraced them with unutter- 
able affection, and touched them with her rings. 
Her parents and her brother had given her two 
rings, on which were engraven the names of 
Our Lord and His Mother. These she loved to 
look at. At the close of her days, Cauchon, her 
unjust judge, took one ; the Burgundian traitors, 
the other. She used to offer votive candles and 
garlands for the statues or altars of her beloved 
patron Saints, When they were long absent, 
she prayed, and they came. When afflicted at 
resistance to her mission, she used to retire to 
pray, and her Voices consoled and counseled 
her. She speaks of her great joy at the pres- 
ence of the saints; and "she was wonderfully 
thrilled," said Dunois, when she spoke of their 
visits and message. They promised to bring 
her to heaven — it was all she asked. And she 
did nothing, she repeatedly affirmed, without 
their command. She would have preferred, she 
solemnly declared, to be torn apart by wild 
horses than to go into France on her mission 
without the command of God. 



CHAPTER VIII 

JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER. 
SHE GOES TO VAUCOULBURS 

AT length her Voices became imperative. 
The need of her country was extreme ; its 
cause, but for her, hopeless. She must leave 
the peaceful home of pious childhood, her 
parents and brothers, the persons and the 
places that she had known so long and loved. 
She was only seventeen. Durand Laxart, called 
her uncle, the first and one of the staunchest and 
truest believers in her mission, invited her to 
his house under pretense of assisting his sick 
wife, Joan's own cousin, and then conducted her 
to the fortress of Vaucouleurs, in order to per- 
suade the hardened old captain, Robert de Bau- 
dricourt, to give her a guard to seek the king. 
Laxart 's call to Joan was probably not later, 
according to the documents, than December, 
1428. Joan says she stayed with him a week 
before going to Vaucouleurs. Laxart says she 
stayed six weeks altogether in his house. Pou- 
lengy affirms that Joan returned to Domremy 
after her first visit to Vaucouleurs. So we have 
four or five weeks for her second sojourn at her 
uncle's, when he went himself several times to 
Baudricourt. Then Joan herself came to stay 

84 



JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER 85 

at Vaucouleurs, in the house of Henri le Char- 
ron. Here she remained three weeks. Mean- 
while occurred her pilgrimage to the famous 
shrine of St. Nicholas, and the interview with 
the Duke of Lorraine. In all, there must have 
been at least eight weeks between her departure 
from Domremy and her journey ''into France," 
23rd February, 1429. Hence she left home to- 
ward the end of December. In this interval 
her father and mother came to Bury, Laxart's 
home, and to Vaucouleurs. At this time they 
made a last attempt to restrain Joan by having 
her cited before the Bishop of Toul for breach 
of promise. The charge was baseless. Her 
knightly companion, Jean de Metz, says he ac- 
companied her to Toul, naturally enough to see 
how the affair would end and so test the alleged 
mission of the Maid. He then left her, although 
she had to make four leagues to Nancy, in an- 
swer to the invitation of the Duke of Lorraine. 
De Metz mus.t have returned to tell Baudricourt 
of the result of Joan 's trial before her Bishop. 
The desire of the Duke of Lorraine to see Joan, 
and have her pray for his recovery, shows that 
her reputation was already becoming gTeat. 
On her way Joan made a pilgrimage to the 
famous shrine of St. Nicholas du Port. Ber- 
trand de Poulengy, her other knightly compan- 
ion, puts this pilgrimage before the visit to the 
Duke. Alain and Laxart led her to the Duke, 
and bravely wished to bring her to the king. 
But she saw it was impossible and returned. 



86 JOAN ENTEES ON HER MILITARY CAREER 

She had put on male attire furnished by Laxart 
and Poulengy; but when she returned the peo- 
ple of Vaucouleurs, convinced of her mission, 
gave her a fitting outfit. 

Vaucouleurs was the only place on the Meuse 
that held out for the king of France. It was 
commanded by a rough captain named Robert 
de Baudricourt, whom Joan tells us she knew 
when she saw him for the first time, for her 
Voice said to her when in his presence, ''It is 
he." He laughed at her, however; and "re- 
pelled" her rudely enough, recommending* Lax- 
art to take her home and have her flogged. He 
was evidently not much better than his fellows 
of the time, since he thought of handing over the 
pure-hearted Maiden to the bestiality of his sol- 
diers. Her snowy innocence, however, abashed 
him. She determined, too, to remain in Vau- 
couleurs until Heaven would open a way to the 
king and the city of Orleans. So her uncle 
Laxart took her to the house of a friend, Henri 
le Charron, who, with his wife, Catherine le 
Eoyer, tells us that Joan prayed and worked 
in their house as she used to do in Domremy. 
She used to go to the church of St. Mary each 
morning; and after the Masses, she descended 
into the crypt, where, supposing herself to be 
alone, she prayed with many tears before a ven- 
erated statue of Our Lady. Finding no one to 
help her to reach the king, her interior suffer- 
ings were so great as to be compared by her 
hostess to the pains of childbirth. Then it was 



JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER 87 

that Alain and Laxai*t offered to go with her. 
Opportunely came the invitation of the Duke of 
Lorraine, whom Joan went to see at Nancy. 

Charles II, Duke of Lorraine, had been from 
youth a favorite of the Duke of Burgundy. He 
became a bitter enemy of the Duke of Orleans 
and France, and remained a consistent sup- 
porter of the traitorous cause which had invited 
the English invader. His early career, how- 
ever, had been honorable and glorious, before 
the bitter feuds of Armagnac and Burgundian 
had desolated France. He was a patron of let- 
ters, and had been a devoted defender of the 
faith. His exploits in Tunis and Hungary had 
merited for him the hand of the saintly princess, 
Margaret of Bavaria. But later on, he scan- 
dalously abandoned her for a low-born concu- 
bine, by whom he had five children. When he 
died, in 1431, the people of Nancy dragged the 
unfortunate woman through the streets, and 
killed her in the most revolting manner. When 
Joan of Arc visited him, he questioned her 
about the recovery of his health. She knew 
nothing of that, she replied; but would recom- 
mend him to God if he gave her an escort to 
reach the king. She warned him as a prophet- 
ess to take back his lawful wife; but nothing 
came of the visit. About the 12th of February 
she returned to Vaucouleurs. 

When she first came to see Robert de Bau- 
dricourt, two noble-hearted soldiers serving un- 
der him were impressed by her appearance and 



88 JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER 

story — Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy. 
The former, Seigneur of Novelonpont or Nouil- 
lonpont, was thirty years of age when he offered 
to guide Joan to the king. He was ennobled in 
1449 ; and the royal patent speaks of his gallant 
and honorable life, and his gratuitous service in 
the wars of his country. He followed Joan 
through her campaigns, which he survived for 
he is mentioned as living at Vaucouleurs in 
1455. Of the other brave and faithful knight, 
Bertrand, we know almost nothing beyond his 
own testimony in favor of Joan of Arc at her 
Rehabilitation. 

On the very day, it seems, of Joan's re- 
turn to Vaucouleurs, she approached de Baudri- 
court, and announced the terrible defeat of 
Rouvray, which occurred on that very day, one 
hundred leagues away; and she foretold disas- 
ters yet more terrible if she were not sent on her 
Heaven-appointed mission. De Baudricourt 
soon learned, probably from a royal courier, 
Collet de Vienne, the confirmation of the fatal 
news, and determined at last to furnish Joan 
with the means of beginning her mission. Be- 
fore setting out, Joan sent a message to her 
parents, and, as she says, obtained their for- 
giveness. They were moved, no doubt, by the 
popular conviction of her extraordinary des- 
tiny. She wore male attire by the sheer neces- 
sity of her situation as well as for the sake of 
modesty; but she understood from her Voices 
that it was fitting she should assume it. Jean 



JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER 89 

de Metz, who used to visit her in the house of 
Henri le Charron, speaks of her ''poor gar- 
ments of a red color, ' ' to replace which the peo- 
ple of Vaucouleurs gave her complete male at- 
tire, and presented her with a horse. Bertrand 
de Poulengy specifies that it was Jean de Metz 
and himself, aided by some others of the town, 
that provided Joan with a tunic and other gar- 
ments of a soldier ; with ' ' spurs, boots, a sword, 
and such like things; and, moreover, with a 
horse. " ' ' Then, ' ' he continues, ' ' Jean de Metz 
and myself, with Jeanne, escorted by Julien, my 
servant, and Jean de Honnecourt, the servant of 
Jean de Metz, in company with Collet de Vienne 
and Richard the Archer, set out to go to the 
Dauphin." 

Joan had made an extraordinary impres- 
sion on the two knights. Her intense earnest- 
ness, her unhesitating declaration that she was 
sent by God, her knowledge of the state of 
France and of particular things just then oc- 
curring, such as the betrothal of the infant son 
of Charles VII to the infant Margaret of Scot- 
land — these, and perhaps signs more conclusive 
of her mission, moved the knightly companions 
to risk all, even life, in her cause. She said to 
de Metz that she must be en route to the king be- 
fore mid-Lent, even though she wore her feet 
off; that this was the command of God, although 
naturally she would prefer to remain spinning 
with her mother. Then the gallant soldier took 
her by the hand, and pledged his knightly word 



90 JOAN ENTERS ON HER MILITARY CAREER 

to lead her, under the guidance of Grod, to the 
king, "When do you wish to go?" he asked; 
and she said, "To-day rather than to-morrow, 
or to-morrow rather than the day after." The 
captain of the fortress, Robert de Baudricourt 
gave her a sword — the only arm she had, she 
says ; made her escort swear to guide her safely ; 
and sent her on her way with the soldierly word, 
which shows he risked not a little, "Go, what- 
ever comes of it ! " Thus in the evening of Feb- 
ruary 23rd, 1429, Joan and her little company 
set out on a journey that never will be forgot- 
ten. 



CHAPTEE IX 

JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

Section 1, — Across France 

THEiB route was long, difficult, and danger- 
ous ; and the hardy soldiers were not with- 
out apprehension. But Joan bade them fear 
not, for they would pass safely through. No 
one but this prophetess would have said so. 
They had to make their way, more than one hun- 
dred and fifty leagues, through territories held 
by their English and Burgundian foes; whose 
outposts or garrisons were so numerous, that no 
road was free from danger, and Joan's es- 
cort had to make its way as best might he. at 
night. Through Champagne, Bourgoyne, Niv- 
ernais, Berri, and Touraine — all held by foes or 
brigands — must they ride. They had to face 
the wintry floods and pathless forest; some- 
times riding the long night through. ' ' Several 
times we had reason to fear," said Bertrand de 
Poulengy; ''but Jeanne always told us to be at 
our ease ; because, when we would come to Chi- 
non, the Dauphin would receive us well." 
''While riding beside her," said Jean de Metz, 
"I used to ask the Maid whether she would do 
what she said; and she always bade me to be 
without fear; that she was ordered to do it; 

91 



92 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

that her brethren of paradise guided her in all 
she did ; that already for four or five years her 
brethren of paradise and her Lord, namely God, 
had told her she must go into the war in order to 
recover the kingdom." ^'Each night," affirms 
Bertrand, "Jean de Metz and myself slept be- 
side her fully attired in her military equipment, 
with no thought but one of extreme reverence. ' ' 
She wished to hear Mass ; but in a hostile land 
there was no time to stay ; only twice could they 
yield to her wishes. 

The first night they found hospitality at the 
abbey of St. Urban, southwest of Domremy. 
Then they pushed on over the Aube, Seine, and 
Yonne to Auxerre. "There I assisted at 
Mass," said Joan, "in the great church; and 
at that time I often heard the Voices. ' ' Thence 
on to the famous sanctuary of her patroness St. 
Catherine at Fierbois, forty kilometers from 
Chinon. Here she heard three Masses in one 
day, and sent on letters to the king, assuring 
him that she came with heavenly assistance, 
that she had many good things to tell him ; and 
that she would recognize him in the midst of 
his courtiers. One of the great patrons of the 
shrine of St. Catherine was the famous Marshal 
Le Meingre de Boucicaut; who, made prisoner 
at Agincourt, died a captive in England in 1421. 
The sword which the Voices told Joan to seek 
for in the ground behind the altar of Fierbois 
was probably that of the Marshal or of some 
ancestor. 




THE TAKING OF ORLEANS BY JOAN OF ARC 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 93 

**I had the greatest faith in the words of the 
Maid, ' ' said Jean de Metz ; ^ ' and her words in- 
flamed my heart with the love of God. I be- 
lieve she was sent by God. She loved to hear 
Mass and give alms, and I myself used to put 
money into her hand for the poor. Instead of 
any form of oath she used to make the sign of 
the cross." 

She was now approaching the Loire, many 
branches of which she had crossed ; and she was 
approaching the King's Castle of Chinon, on 
another tributary of the river, far to the south- 
west of Orleans. She had thus practically tra- 
versed the entire country from east to west in 
eleven days. 

According to local tradition, Joan passed a 
night at Ile-Bouchard. Next day, having heard 
Mass, — for it was Sunday, — she easily reached 
Chinon towards mid-day, as she said; and dis- 
mounted in front of the church of St. Maurice, 
at the foot of the rising-ground on which the 
castle stood. It was the 6th of March, 1429, the 
fourth Sunday of Lent. 

Section 2. — ^With the King at Chinon 

Joan is truly her own best and most reliable 
historian, and as such she is received by pos- 
terity. We read with the utmost satisfaction 
her own account, often minutely detailed, of her 
life and exploits. This we have in her answers 
to her judges at Rouen. 

She says that after refreshment at a hotel, she 



94 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT GHINON 

ascended with her escort the straight, narrow, 
stony road, still traversed, which led to the out- 
most of the triple line of fortifications. The 
royal stronghold consisted, in reality, of three 
castles, separated by moats, deep and wide, over 
which drawbridges were thrown. The castle of 
St. George was toward the northeast; that in- 
habited by the king, in the middle ; and that of 
Coudray to the southwest. Here had dwelt the 
English Plantagenet kings, Henry II, Richard 
the Lionhearted, and John. From this last the 
fortress was taken by Philip Augustus. St. 
Louis and succeeding kings of France made 
their abode within its walls. Until the days of 
long-range artillery it was almost impregnable. 
To-day its imposing ruins look down on the fair 
valley of the river Vienne, with its wood-embos- 
omed, richly cultivated fields. An outer flight 
of steps leads up to the great throne-room, of 
which the dimensions can still be traced. The 
fireplace and chimney are sustained by a por- 
tion of the wall. Here Joan of Arc revealed her 
mission to the king. 

Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy were 
known at court. They explained the mission of 
the Maid, and described their daring journey. 
Joan was not admitted immediately into the 
royal presence; but was provided with lodg- 
ings in the house of a good woman near the cas- 
tle, the woman being, apparently, in the employ 
of the royal household. Here Joan remained 
for two days. She prayed unceasingly, and 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHIN0l5r 95 

was visited by the Angel who had appeared to 
her from the beginning — the Archangel St. 
Michael. She was visited, too, by many from 
the court, and asked many questions. At first 
she did not wish to answer and begged to be 
brought to the king. Her manner and answers, 
the letters of Robert de Baudricourt, as well as 
the story of her companions, impressed the 
court of Charles VII; and it was determined 
that she should be received in the presence of 
king and courtiers late in the evening of the 8th 
of March. This, according to Simon Charles, 
one of the chief counselors of Charles VII, was 
sooner than had been first determined. 

The scene was brilliant and splendid. Joan 
says there were more than three hundred cava- 
liers — the flower of French chivalry — while the 
great hall was brightly illuminated by more 
than fifty torches. She was conducted into the 
presence of this illustrious assembly by Prince 
Louis de Bourbon- Vendome, the ancestor of the 
Bourbon kings of France and other countries. 
We are told by the Augustinian Friar Paquerel, 
Joan's confessor, that Prince Charles de Bour- 
bon pretended to be the king. But Joan went 
straight to Charles VII ; saluted him with great 
reverence and addressed him, says his secre- 
tary, Alain Chartier, as if she had been bred at 
court. Joan herself affirms that she knew the 
king by the indication of her Voices. 

Thus recognized, the king led her to the end 
of the throne-room, the courtiers retiring to the 



96 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

other extremity. Here she revealed to Charles 
VII a secret of his own heart, known only to 
himself — a secret, in fact, which he could not re- 
veal. This interview was altogether extraor- 
dinary, according to Joan's own words. The 
heavenly light which so often had graced her 
visions appeared to her as she entered the hall. 
An angel accompanied her; and was then or 
later accompanied by many of the heavenly 
host, who were seen, Joan declares, by the king 
and some of the assembly. At this moment, 
according to Count Dunois and others, Joan 
seemed to be transformed. The king, too, 
shared something of this transformation, for 
his joy was noticed by those who saw him. 
''There were fair revelations made to him 
then," said the Maid. The angel promised him 
deliverance, and the recovery of all France by 
aid of Joan herself — which shows the extent of 
her mission. 

It appears from her own testimony, that, be- 
fore her arrival at Chinon, she did not know 
what the promised sign would be which would 
make the king accept her mission. The sign 
she would reveal to no one but to him. Nor 
could she, for it regarded his doubt of his own 
legitimacy, and therefore of his right to the 
throne of France. It seems clear, however, 
from Joan's words, that it was thought best to 
reveal it under oath to some of Charles' chief 
counselors, in order that they might fully un- 
derstand the grounds on which Charles ap- 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 97 

proved of the Maid's mission. The vision of 
angels was spoken of publicly and chronicled 
at the time. In the royal patent of nobility 
given to Guy de Cailly it is stated that he also 
had seen the vision. 

Paquerel asserts he had the story from her- 
self, that on the day she was admitted to the 
Castle of Chinon, she was most grossly insulted 
by a cavalier, as she approached. '*In the 
name of God," she said, ''you blaspheme Him, 
and you so near death." Within an hour he 
was drowned. The name of the man has come 
down in contemporary writings. We fre- 
quently meet this expression of Joan, ''In the 
name of God," when, in her public career, she 
urged some deed, or made some announcement 
in the name of Heaven. It was her inspired 
way of speaking ; for, according to her soldier 
companions she never swore ; and, for all oaths, 
used to make the sign of the cross. She ab- 
horred oaths, said her confessor, and became 
very angry when she heard them, reproving 
severely and converting effectually the leaders 
and soldiers who so offended. No witness of 
Joan's career is more interesting than Paque- 
rel. He met her mother and some of her es- 
cort from Vaucouleurs at the famous place of 
pilgrimage, Puyen-Velay; who persuaded him 
to go to Chinon to see her. He met her at 
Tours, and she received him gladly, and con- 
fessed to him next day. She became extremely 
attached to him, and begged him never to leave 



98 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHIN ON 

her. He used to sing Mass before her and her 
military array, and never left her until she was 
taken prisoner at Compiegne. He tells that at 
her first interview in the great hall of Chinon, 
the king asked her name. "Gentle Dauphin," 
she answered, "my name is Joan the Maid (or 
Little Virgin), and the King of Heaven an- 
nounced by me that you will be crowned in the 
city of Rheims. And I tell you on the part of 
My Lord (of Heaven), that you are the true 
heir of France and son of the king. He sends 
me to lead you to Rheims." 

The princely d'Alengon was, of all the great 
personages of the court and cause, the most es- 
teemed by Joan. To her he was always her 
"Beau Due" (Pair Duke). His attractiveness 
and nobility of character, his valiant military 
career from boyhood, his royal blood by his 
father's side and mother's, his descent from 
noble soldiers slain in war for their country's 
freedom, the interest of his young and gentle 
wife, also of royal descent, his absolute loyalty 
to Joan — ^all these reasons made the young 
Duke of Alencon dear to the warrior Maid. 
His father, commander of the French army at 
Agincourt, was slain there, after having struck 
down the Duke of York and cloven the crown 
on the helmet of Henry V. Bom in 1409, he 
had married Jeanne d 'Orleans, of royal de- 
scent, daughter of Prince Charles d 'Orleans, a 
captive in England since the fatal day of Agin- 
court. The young Duke himself, taken from 



JOAN GOES TO THE KIKG AT CHINON 99 

amongst the dead at the disastrous defeat of 
Verneuil, remained long a prisoner of the Duke 
of Bedford ; but was set free for a ruinous ran- 
som in October, 1427. As the ransom was not 
quite paid before the relief of Orleans, he could 
take no part in raising the siege. He made 
use of his position as commander-in-chief of 
the royal army and lieutenant of the king, to 
second always the plans of Joan of Arc, and 
never opposed her. 

The Duke d'Alengon tells, that, while shoot- 
ing quails on his estates at St. Florent, north- 
west of Chinon, on the Loire, he heard the news 
of Joan 's coming to the king. He went the next 
day to see her. As she saw him approach she 
asked who he was. The king answered it was 
the Duke d'Alengon. ''You are welcome," she 
said; ''the more princes of the royal blood we 
have, the better." Then the king led her into 
an apartment of the Castle, with d 'Alengon and 
La Tremoille. Joan made several requests 
of the king. One of these was to offer the king- 
dom to the King of Heaven, and He would do 
for King Charles the glorious things done for 
his ancestors. Several other requests d'Alen- 
gon did not remember. These are written, how- 
ever, by other trustworthy chroniclers. She 
demanded a full amnesty for all who would re- 
turn to the royal obedience, the administration 
of justice to the poor as to the rich — in fact a 
general reformation of the land. 

D'Alengon said the royal interview contin- 



100 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

ued from the hour of Mass until dinner. Then 
the king walked out into the fields; and Joan, 
mounted on a war-horse the first time in her 
life, and carrying a lance, so astonished and 
charmed the king and duke by her skill, that the 
latter made her a present of a charger. Joan 
says that the Duke d'Alengon saw, at her inter- 
view with the king, the angel who brought the 
crown; and from her words we gather, that to 
him also the secret sign given to the king was 
revealed. 

After her first interview with the king, Joan 
was lodged in the Coudray tower within the 
Castle; and a page, Louis de Coutes, fourteen 
or fifteen years of age, was given to wait upon 
her during the day. At night Joan's female 
companions came to stay with her. Louis tes- 
tified at the Rehabilitation, that many nobles of 
high estate came to converse with Joan; and 
that he often saw her kneeling in tears when 
she was alone. 

Section 3. — At Poitiers and Tours. 
Her Sword and Banner 

Ordinary prudence compelled the king and 
counselors to have Joan's mission approved 
by the university faculties and the parliament 
of Poitiers. Joan, who burned with desire to 
relieve Orleans, which was pushed to the last 
extremes of defense, says she was examined 
during three weeks at Chinon and Poitiers. 
The examination was long and most minute — 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 101 

her knowledge of religion, her whole manner of 
life, were subjected to the most rigid scrutiny. 
Sharp-witted women, including the wise and 
virtuous princess Yolande, the mother-in-law 
of the king, were employed to find out all about 
the Maid and her history. Neither her good 
humor nor her clear common sense forsook her. 
She felt that precious time was being wasted, 
and there had been proofs enough of the much- 
needed favor of Heaven. Her quick, witty tem- 
per shines out, as, for instance, when she told 
the Limousin Doctor, that the Angel spoke bet- 
ter French than he. Meanwhile, thus scruti- 
nized by examiners and visited by the notable 
people of Poitiers, Joan^s life was as simple 
and pious as at Domremy. 

Amongst other chroniclers, Alain Chartier, 
the king's secretary, and de Boulainvilliers, the 
royal Councilor, write of the astonishment 
caused by Joan's answers to the examiners on 
abstruse and difficult subjects. Monstrelet, a 
hostile Burgundian, notes the change from sus- 
picion to full confidence in her mission. Se- 
guin, one of the examiners, says that Joan 
spoke *'Magno modo" — in an exalted manner — 
of the visions and commands of Heaven. That 
is, as one inspired ; and not, as the words have 
been mistranslated, ** haughtily." Joan never 
showed haughtiness ; on the contrary, it was her 
humility, girlish simplicity, her tears and pray- 
ers, that made an impression at Poitiers, as 
elsewhere. We are told, absurdly enough, that 



102 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

she showed anger when she saw the priests com- 
ing to question her, while she clapped a cava- 
lier on the back and welcomed him. Thibault, 
the cavalier in question, says not a word of any 
sign of impatience; but that Joan touched him 
on the shoulder, and wished there were many 
such as he. She wearied of waiting and long 
examinations while the defenders of Orleans 
were being slain, and the city in danger of 
starvation and every outrage that would follow 
its capture. Every day, says the Councilor de 
Boulainvilliers, she begged the king with tears 
to let her advance against the English. Her 
time was short, she added; for she "would last" 
only a little more than a year. This prophecy 
was recorded at the time, and was repeated 
publicly. 

The Commission of Poitiers which examined 
Joan contained many illustrious names. It was 
presided over by the Chancellor, Eegnault de 
Chartres, Archbishop of Eheims. He was the 
ecclesiastical superior of the unjust and un- 
worthy Bishop Cauchon, who condemned Joan 
at Eouen. Hence she repeatedly appealed to 
the decision of Portiers, which was fair and 
legal, and based upon evidence indisputable and 
most detailed. Strangely this evidence of Poi- 
tiers disappeared, and before the Eehabilita- 
tion, which, probably, points to treason some- 
where. There was plenty of it, and in high 
places. Treason, Joan used to say, was the 
only thing she feared. 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 103 

The Commission decided that no evil was 
found in Joan ; but, on the contrary, many and 
great virtues ; that the promised sign of the de- 
livery of Orleans ought to be accepted, and 
Joan provided with the means of accomplish- 
ing her mission. 

If Joan was at Poitiers on the 22nd of March, 
as her most careful historians declare, her fa- 
mous letter to the English must have been writ- 
ten there, for it bears this date. It seems to 
have been made public with the decision of the 
Poitiers commission, in order to explain the 
Maid's mission, and win popular support. It 
was not sent to the English from Blois for 
more than a month afterwards. There appears 
to be no doubt of the solemn proclamation at 
Chinon of the approval of the Doctors of the 
University of Poitiers and of the Parliament; 
for in the document as made public it is said 
that the Maid had been under examination and 
supervision for six weeks. She was back at 
Chinon in Easter week, she says ; having been 
partially provided at Poitiers with a military 
equipment, according to the Chronique de la 
Pucelle. AlenQon tells that he was now ordered 
by the king to get ready provisions and a con- 
voy to relieve Orleans. He was sent to the 
Queen of Sicily, the Princess Yolande, the 
king's mother-in-law, to procure her assistance. 
All being ready, he returned to the king for 
money; which was collected. 

According to the Chronicle of Perceval de 



104 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

Cagny, Joan, soon after her return, went to 
visit the young Duchess of AlenQon at St. Flor- 
ent. Heaven alone knows, writes the Chron- 
icler, the joy she brought to the tearful wife and 
mother of the duke. "When I was about to 
leave my wife to go with Joan to the army, ' ' 
says the duke, ''she felt the greatest alarm, for 
I had but lately been released from captivity 
for an enormous sum: 'Fear not,' said Joan 
to the Duchess, consoling her by a prophecy; 
'I will bring back your husband safe and sound; 
and perhaps in better health than now.' " 
Joan remained with them four or five days. 
And ever after that, continues de Cagny, she 
was near to d'Alen^on, and more familiar with 
him than with any other. 

According to Joan's page, Louis de Coutes, 
Joan was brought to Tours, famous for its man- 
ufacture of armor, twenty or thirty miles north- 
east of Chinon, on the Loire. Here she was 
lodged with the wife of Councilor Dupuy. 
Louis was now assigned definitely to Joan's 
service as a page, with another named Ray- 
mond. "Prom that moment," he says, "I was 
always with her until she arrived before 
Paris." With the pages, others were ap- 
pointed to constitute her military household 
{Stat de maison). John de Metz was her treas- 
urer; and he and Bertrand de Poulengy were 
presented with expensive sets of armor. Her 
special guard and guardian was her equerry, 
John d 'Anion, the most prudent and courteous 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 105 

of cavaliers. He was taken prisoner with her, 
and served her in captivity. Many confiden- 
tial charges had been entrusted to him by 
Charles VII ; and at the Rehabilitation of Joan 
he was Seneschal of Beaucaire. 

*' While in Tours or Chinon,'^ said Joan at 
Rouen, ''I sent for a sword which was behind 
the altar in the church of St. Catherine of Fier- 
bois. It was quickly found, all covered with 
rust. It was marked with five crosses; and 
was not fa;r under ground, as well as I remem- 
ber." Her Saints told her where the sword 
was, and that it was God's command that she 
should carry it. She did so up to the retreat 
from Paris ; when she broke it on the shoulders 
of a bad woman who followed the army. The 
priests cleaned the sword, and gave her a 
sheath; as did, also, the people of Tours. One 
of these sheaths was of vermillion velvet; the 
other, of cloth of gold; but Joan had a very 
strong one made of leather. 

Her banner, she said, she loved forty times 
better than her sword ; because her Saints told 
her she must carry it in the name of Our Lord ; 
it represented her cause. She carried it, she 
said, in order not to kill. She never even 
wounded any one; although she acknowledges 
she gave some hard knocks. It was made at 
Tours — a white banner, strewn with lilies, bear- 
ing the figure of Our Lord with His Five 
Wounds, and His Sacred Name and that of His 
Mother. Its approach often terrified the Eng- 



106 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

lish foe ; and it was borne by her, or before her, 
until it was taken at Compiegne. Another ban- 
ner with a representation of the Crucifixion was 
carried by the priests. 

Section 4. — Joan's Attire and Appearance 

The Clerk of La Rochelle describes Joan's 
attire as she arrived at Chinon. She was 
dressed as a man, with black doublet or tunic, 
to which the hose, or tight-fitting trousers, were 
attached. She wore a short robe of coarse 
dark-gray cloth, and a black cap on her dark 
hair, which was cut round at the neck, after the 
manner of soldiers. At Tours the king had a 
complete suit of "white" armor made to fit her. 
The term ''white" means that there was no 
painting or gilding. Joan's was the usual 
style of armor of that time, when the coat-of- 
mail, made of woven rings of steel was strength- 
ened with metal plates, and was giving place to 
complete steel-plate armor. The knight was 
incased in steel from head to foot ; there being 
just two small apertures to see through when 
the visor of the helmet was drawn down over 
the face. The head and chest of the war-horse 
were similarly protected by steel ; and the flanks 
by thick leather, toughened by boiling. The 
great danger for the rider was that of being 
unhorsed, when he was rendered almost power- 
less. To assist him to rise, as well as to carry a 
portion of his arms or armor, he had two or 



JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 107 

three assistants. So was Joan accoutered. 
Her accuisers at Rouen describe her, when taken 
prisoner, as wearing a tabard, or rich cloak, 
open at the sides. Presents of rich cloth or lace 
were no doubt often made to her, such as we 
read of as being presented by order of the Duke 
of Orleans. 

No authentic portrait of Joan's physical ap- 
pearance has come down to us ; and we have de- 
scriptions absolutely contradictory. D'Aulon, 
her equerry's words are the most trustworthy. 
She was handsome and well formed, he says. 
And Perceval de Boulainvilliers, the king's 
chamberlain, who must have often spoken to 
her, declares she was not without beauty and 
was of a virile attitude. ''I never," he con- 
tinues, ' ' saw such strength to bear fatigue and 
carry armor. She can continue six days and 
nights without detaching a single piece. ' ' Her 
voice was womanly, but could resound as a 
trumpet in battle. It was so touching in tone, 
that even the hardened wept when leaving her, 
and the sorrowful were filled with consolation. 
She herself often wept when insulted, when she 
saw the dead and dying, when she received Holy 
Communion, when in prayer, and so on. Yet 
all agree she was not melancholy, but joyous 
and enthusiastic. Although she could scrawl 
her name, perhaps under guidance, she knew, 
she said, neither A nor B. Yet she knew more 
than they could gather from all their books. 



108 JOAN GOES TO THE KING AT CHINON 

Tradition speaks of her dark, melancholy eyes, 
large and beautiful. 

Guy de Laval, who was intimately acquainted 
with Joan, wrote of her to his mother, "I saw 
her mount on horseback, equipped with white 
armor, save her head. She held a little hatchet 
in her hand. Her horse, a great black charger, 
would not let her mount at her lodgings. 
'Bring him,' she said, 'to the Cross' (before the 
church). There he became perfectly quiet." 
Her brother, he notices, was with her, wearing, 
also, white armor. The two brothers probably 
came to Tours with her confessor Paquerel, and 
followed her to war. 

Tours, a city loyal and generous to her king, 
was dear to Joan of Arc. Hither she returns 
after the relief of Orleans. The citizens used 
to reward the bearer of the news of Joan 's tri- 
umphs — at Orleans, Jargeau, Patay, Eheims, 
etc.; and when she was taken captive, public 
prayers and works of penance were offered to 
Heaven for her. 



CHAPTER X 

THE LAND, THE PAETIES, AND THE MEN, WHEN 
JOAN COMES 

Section 1. — The Land 

helpless, so pitiable, was the condition of 
France at the time, that it was not the 
English ohly who meditated its disruption. 
The Prince of Orange on the southwestern bor- 
der of Dauphine, and the Duke of Savoy, were 
waiting to take their share. Restrained by the 
career of the Prophetess of France, they in- 
vaded Dauphine when she was taken prisoner. 
But they were beaten off at the Battle of Au- 
thon on June 11th, 1430. When Joan came 
to the king at Chinon, the Loire was considered 
the actual boundary between the English and 
French possessions. That is, from the sea to 
where the early tributaries of the river ap- 
proach those of the Saone about forty miles 
north of its junction with the Rhone. This 
means that about one-half of France was under 
the English flag. A great part was directly 
ruled by England ; and here the English leaders 
claimed and received principalities for them- 
selves. A great part, also, directly obeyed 
powerful princes, such as the Dukes of Bur- 

109 



110 THE LAND, THE PAKTIES, AND THE MEN 

gundy and Brittany. A portion of Anjou, Tou- 
raine, and Blois, north of the Loire, were loyal 
to King Charles of France. But the English 
were acknowledged below the river mouth, 
south of Nantes. A few isolated outposts, such 
as impregnable Mont St. Michel in Normandy, 
the city of Tournay, and heroic Vaucouleurs, 
held out for their lawful sovereign. 

Henry VI of England was acknowledged in 
French and Belgian Flanders, Artois, Picardy, 
Normandy, Brittany, He de France with Paris, 
Maine, almost all the Duchy of Orleans save the 
city, in the south the rich and extensive terri- 
tory of Bordeaux north and south of the Gi- 
ronde and Garonne, and south of that the terri- 
tory which stretched almost to the Pyrenees. 
On the eastern side, Henry of England was 
acknowledged in Champagne, Barrels, Bur- 
gundy, and Nivemais. The Duke of Burgundy 
had drawn into the English coalition the power- 
ful House of Luxembourg and the Duke of 
Lorraine. 

Section 2. — The Parties, National and Anti- 
national 

After the humiliating and disastrous defeat 
of Eouvray, or the Herrings, the French king 
was abandoned in great part by the nobles. 
Some, taken captive, signed away their terri- 
tories for freedom ; others took up arms against 
the base sway of the actual ruler. La Tremoille. 
The royal prince Charles of Orleans was a pris- 



THE LAND, THE PARTIES, AND THE MEN 111 

oner in England, as was his brother, John, 
Count of Angouleme. The Duke de Bourbon, 
taken prisoner at Agincourt consented to buy 
his liberty by accepting English dominion. His 
son Charles, Count of Clermont, had revolted 
against Tremoille, and caused the loss of Rou- 
vray by his senseless conduct, for which he 
showed no regret. He was a brother-in-law of 
the Duke of Burgundy, and mingled in all the 
interminable attempts at insincere treaties of 
peace which spoiled and made profitless the 
mission of Joan of Arc. Louis de Bourbon, 
Count of Vendome, of the cadet branch, fought 
with the Maid. 

The leader of the antinational party and 
chief ally of the invader was the Duke of Bur- 
gundy. He was of royal descent, and was al- 
most an independent king, treating with the 
English very much as an equal. After Joan's 
victories had driven the foreigner from Cham- 
pagne, he obtained from his English allies a 
promise of this territory, which bound together 
his possessions of Artois and Flanders with 
Burgundy proper. He drew to the English 
side the powerful house of Luxembourg, the 
Duke of Lorraine, with a long line of powerful 
feudatory nobles. It is worth noting that one 
of these was a brother of La Tremoille, who 
took good care of the latter 's property when 
conquered by the English. 

Rene, Duke of Bar, brother-in-law of King 
Charles of France, made his submission to the 



112 THE LAND, THE PAKTIES, AND THE MEN 

invader either through fear or policy. The 
very powerful Duke of Brittany, had changed 
sides several times, and was now with his coun- 
try's foes. 

Henry VI of England was a child of nine 
years when Joan appeared. Cardinal Beau- 
fort of Winchester, uncle of the king, had long 
been chancellor. Humphrey, Duke of Grloster, 
was regent of England; and the Duke of Bed- 
ford was regent of France. Both were uncles 
of the young king. Bedford was a great cap- 
tain, diplomatist, and administrator. By mat- 
rimonial alliances, by power of arms, by skillful 
policy, his power kept steadily growing until 
Joan came. His wife was Anne, sister of the 
Duke (Philip) of Burgundy, who contributed 
not a little to keep the Burgundians united to 
the English; and of whose much regretted 
death, three years later, the consequences were 
soon seen. 

Thomas de Montague, Lord of Salisbury and 
Perche (in France), perhaps the best of the 
English commanders, was slain at Orleans. 
His cousin, the Duke of Warwick, Pichard de 
Beauchamp, another distinguished soldier, was 
in charge of the trial of Joan at Orleans. 
Thomas Baron Scales, many-titled in conquered 
France, died in the Wars of the Poses. John 
Fastolf, a soldier of brilliant service, victor of 
Rouvray, was a favorite of Talbot. Degraded 
from the Order of the Garter because of the de- 
feat of Patay, he was rehabilitated, and finally 



THE LAND, THE PARTIES, AND THE MEN 113 

retired to his estates. William Pole, Lord of 
Suffolk in England and Dreux in France, com- 
manded at Orleans and was made prisoner at 
Jargeau with his brother, after another brother 
had been slain. When exiled by Henry VI in 
order to save him, he was murdered aboard 
ship. Glasdale, a Scotchman, as was Bishop 
Kirkmichael of Orleans, remained the chief 
warrior at the siege, after the death of Salis- 
bury. He had risen from the ranks ; and with 
his brother had reached a prominent station. 
His brutal insults to the Maid were quickly pun- 
ished by his tragic death in the Loire. John 
Talbot, the English" Achilles, who had been 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, fought through the 
French wars, and was slain, at the age of eig'hty, 
at the battle of Castillon, which ended the Eng- 
lish sway in France. 

Joan of Arc, the prophetess of victory, con- 
demned the insincere and fruitless negotiations 
with the Duke of Burgundy, telling the plain 
truth that peace could be obtained only at 
the point of the lance. The disastrous war 
dragged on until the peace of Arras in 1435, by 
which Burgundy was detached from the English 
cause. His submission was made on conditions 
bitter and humiliating for Charles VII ; and the 
evils done by his family were enlarged in a new 
field when his granddaughter carried her im- 
mense estates over to the House of Austria — 
the cause of age-long strife between France 
and the Empire. Henry VI of England lost all 



114 THE LAND, THE PARTIES, AND THE MEN 

his possessions in France except Calais ; and in 
the deluge of evils that swept over England in 
the Wars of the Eoses, having become subject 
to insanity, was deprived of his crown long be- 
fore he was murdered in the tower of London. 
The mission of Joan of Arc, we may well be- 
lieve, would have quickly expelled the invader 
from France, and reduced the power of Bur- 
gundy to reasonable limits. 

Section 3. — Some of the Men with Joan 

Of all the royal princes, one of the noblest was 
John Count Dunois, then only twenty-seven 
years of age, but already famous as a soldier. 
He was the commander at Orleans when Joan 
arrived to relieve the city. Next to him was 
Raoul de Gaucourt, in arms for his king from 
the age of thirteen. He took part in all the 
great events of the time up to his death in 1461. 
He fought with the Maid of Orleans ; saved Dau- 
phine at Authon in 1430; and, after a second 
English captivity, entered Eouen with King 
Charles in 1449. One of the first companions 
of Joan, and who continued with her up to the 
attempt on Paris, was Gilles de Eais, Marshal 
of France, and then only twenty-five years old. 
He squandered his extraordinary fortune ; and 
in his vanity spared no effort to attract atten- 
tion. He confesses of himself, whether truly 
or not, horrors the most extreme. He was 
burnt to death at Nantes ten years after, but 
died repentant. 



THE LAND, THE PAKTIES, AND THE MEN 115 

One of the chief figures on the French side 
was Regnault de Chartres, Chancellor of the 
kingdom. He was Archbishop of Rheims for 
thirty years, during which time he scarcely ever 
visited the see confided to him. On the con- 
trar}^, he appears in all the affairs of the court, 
and was prominent also in those of the uni- 
versal Church. It is supposed that King 
Charles ' refusal to support the Council of Basle 
was due to him; as was, probably also, the 
king's Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, which 
largely enslaved the Church of France. The 
Archbishop was elevated to the Cardinalate at 
the Council of Florence in 1439. He quitted Or- 
leans with La Tremoille after the defeat of 
Rouvray. Although he recognized Joan's 
providential mission, he was little in her fa- 
vor, and systematically opposed her as time 
went on. His futile policy of treaties with the 
false Duke of Burgundy, his procrastination — 
not to use a harsher word — only prolonged the 
sanguinary conflict, threw away the apparently 
certain hope of victory, and finally succeeded 
in dissolving the most patriotic army France 
had ever had. He went personally, and fruit- 
lessly, to meet the Duke of Burgundy at Senlis. 
When Compiegne declared itself loyal to King 
Charles, La Tremoille claimed its governorship, 
and accepted as his lieutenant his relative and 
ally, Gruillaume Flavy, who was, also, it is said, 
chosen by the people. The archbishop was in 
complete harmony with La Tremoille — a thing 



116 THE LAND, THE PARTIES, AND THE MEN 

not much to his credit. Both actually at- 
tempted to hand over Compiegne to the Duke 
of Burgundy, but the city steadfastly refused 
its consent. A letter has come down to us writ- 
ten by the archbishop after the capture of Joan 
of Arc, saying that she was justly abandoned 
by Heaven, for she wished always to do her 
own will. 

One of the best and bravest of Joan's cap- 
tains was Etienne de Vignoles, called La Hire. 
He with his two brothers, Amade and Arnaud, 
were amongst the first to join the Maid. La 
Hire figures everywhere in the front of the 
fight. After the crowning at Eheims he was 
made Count of Longueville in Normandy, and 
of all else he could win with his sword. One 
of his great feats was the capture by scaling 
of the supposedly impregnable castle of Cha- 
teau Gaillard on the Seine in Normandy, seven 
leagues from Rouen. He died at Montauban 
in 1444. 



CHAPTER XI 

WAR IN Joan's time, hee army 

Section 1. — Manner of Warfare 

IN the Middle Ages military service was 
amongst the chief duties of the nobility. 
The order of nobles had been created to pro- 
mote order and justice in the fiefs, and to 
defend the king, the country, and all na- 
tional causes. Each powerful feudatory noble 
brought in his train, his vassals and their liege- 
men. The soldiers were the nobles, as was just 
and natural; and none were ever braver or 
nobler. From them we have all the grace and 
nobility of Christian chivalry, which has so 
leavened and elevated our modern civilization 
— faith, honor, courtesy, valor, defense of the 
weak. 

Their manner of warfare was worthy of 
them. Nothing is easier than to ridicule in con- 
trast the mechanical slaughter of modern sol- 
diers in field or trench by long-range cannon. 
War in the Middle Ages demanded the great- 
est skill and bravery. The choosing of the 
ground, the arrangement of the army, the man- 
ner of attack, ruses of war, the conduct of 
sieges, etc., gave full scope to the genius of the 

117 



118 WAR IN JOAN's time. HER ARMY 

captain. Cannon, too — and there was a great 
variety of it — ^played a much more important 
part than is generally thought. It was in- 
vented fifty years before the campaigns of Joan 
of Arc, and had often decided the fate of town 
and castle. In the fifteenth century the arms 
of the preceding age were employed with those 
of modern use. The knight, mounted and steel- 
clad, was followed by his squire, page and valet, 
who assisted him in the fray and chained the 
prisoners. The English archers, strong, cool, 
and brave, shot so swiftly their long, heavy 
cloth-yard shafts, tipped with iron, that they 
penetrated the armor of the knights, and often 
decided the hard-fought field. Each archer 
carried a stake, pointed at each end and shod 
with iron, which being set in the ground, formed 
a stockade which repelled or threw into disor- 
der the knightly cavalry. 

As the ages grew, mercenaries began to be 
employed under the leaders who recruited them. 
These chiefs were usually needy nobles, who 
sought fortune rather than fame. The mercen- 
aries, often ill-paid, were the scourge of the 
country, off which they lived. They had an 
evil reputation; and in the beginning of the 
fifteenth century went by the name of brigands. 

There was, moreover, a municipal soldiery, 
which really consisted of the citizens them- 
selves, trained and armed for self-defense. 
They were despised by the proud nobles, whose 
trade was war and who gloried in rich and well- 



WAR IN JOAN's time. HER ARMY 119 

fashioned armor. The arms of the citizen sol- 
diers were often very primitive. These men 
followed Joan of Arc with unrestrained enthu- 
siasm, and were her chief support at Orleans 
and in other places. They carried the banner 
of the city or of their patron saint. 

Although strong castles had been battered by 
cannon before the campaigns of Joan of Arc, 
they were still taken by assault. France bris- 
tled with the fortresses of the noble families. 
They were usually situated on a height and sur- 
rounded by a moat. The cities were protected 
by strong ramparts with towers, in which were 
set the engines of war, and surrounded by 
trenches or moats, often double, wide and deep, 
and easily, if not always, filled with water. On 
the outer edge of the moat was the boulevard, 
an earthwork with parapet, for the defense of 
the fortress proper. It united the outward de- 
fenses, and insured the communications of the 
defenders. The strong gates were furnished 
with bridges that could be raised at need, and 
portcullis, made of stout wooden bars toothed 
with iron, which could be lowered. Before the 
invention of cannon the ordinary way of re- 
ducing a city was by the starvation of its in- 
habitants. The heroism shown by defenders of 
ancient cities and castles is rarely paralleled in 
modern warfare. The besiegers surrounded 
the beleaguered place with a line of counter-for- 
tifications, to prevent the bringing of food or 
reenfdrcements, and the escape of those within. 



120 WAR IN JOAN's time. HER ARMY 

In attack the moats were filled up at points to 
be passed over, and the walls were scaled by 
means of ladders on which the assailants en- 
deavored to protect themselves by forming a 
sort of roof with their shields; while there 
rained on them from above stones, shafts, boil- 
ing liquid, etc. 

Captives taken in war were very valuable; 
but if not able to ransom themselves, were 
hanged or knocked on the head. The captain 
of the band received one-third of all the booty 
or ransom; the king, another third. 

Section 2. — Joan's Army 

As the royal cause had been abandoned by 
very many of the nobles, the greater part of 
the king's forces was composed of bands of 
adventurers, foreigners constituting the larger 
portion — Spaniards, Lombards, Scots, etc. 
Scotland had long been the recruiting ground 
for the armies of the French kings. Levies of 
as many as six thousand men are said to have 
been raised at one time. These were gathered 
and led by nobles of the blood royal — ^by the 
son of the Regent, Albany; by the High Con- 
stable of Scotland; by Sir John Stewart of 
Darnley. The unfortunate Charles of France, 
not only paid out his treasure lavishly, to pay 
them, but also signed away his states — for in- 
stance Touraine — so that there was a saying 
amongst the people that France was divided 
between the English and Scotch. The Battle 



WAR IN JOAN's time. HER ARMY 121 

of Bauge in 1421, was won chiefly by the Scotch. 
They fell in great numbers at Crevant and 
Verneuil. We find them again at Rouvray, 
where the Constable and his son perished. 
There were many Scots with Joan; and they 
took a very prominent part in the plot to hand 
over the city of Paris. A Scot penetrated into 
her prison at Arras, in order to show her a 
portrait of herself, probably painted by him. 
Scots were chosen as the special bodyguard of 
the king; and the name of the Scottish Guard 
long remained, even though no Scot was any 
longer numbered in it. An important part of 
the garrison of Orleans was Scottish. But 
after the siege had been raised, we rarely hear 
them mentioned. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE CITY OF OEL.EANS AT THE TIME OF THE SIEGE 

ORLEANS is situated in the heart of France — 
a position typical of its importance to the 
royal cause, and indeed of the noble loyalty 
and courage of its citizens. It is built on the 
north bank of the Loire, where the river, coming 
up in a northwesterly direction, bends, almost in 
a right angle, to the southwest and the sea, 
midway in its course. A great commercial 
river is this bond between many provinces. 
The surrounding country is flat, although Or- 
leans is built on slightly elevated ground. In 
1429 its walls inclosed perhaps one-fourth of 
the present city; but, without the walls, there 
were very extensive suburbs, considered the 
most beautiful in France, containing a popula- 
tion almost equal to that of the city — perhaps 
in all some twenty thousand. The fortifications 
were quadrilateral, about twenty-five thousand 
or twenty-seven thousand feet along the river, 
seventeen thousand feet perpendicular to it. 
These were pierced by five gates — the Paris 
gate on the north. Burgundy on the east, the 
Bannier gate was at the northwest, the Renard 
gate west. The southern gate opened on the 

122 



THE CITY OF OBLEANS 123 

bridge which spanned the Loire, the farther end 
of which bridge, across the river, was guarded 
by the famous Tourelles, or Little Towers. 
The walls, six or seven feet thick, rose to the 
height of twenty to thirty feet; and were de- 
fended by nearly forty towers, three stories 
high, and thirty or forty feet in diameter. 
These stood at distances of about one hundred 
and eighty feet from one another. Around the 
walls was a moat, forty feet in width, and from 
eighteen to twenty feet in depth. The bridge 
which spanned the Loire near where the present 
one stands, was about one thousand feet in 
length, and eighty feet wide. At the sixth of 
its nineteen arches, from the city side, stood 
the tower of St. Anthony, named from a hos- 
pital for strangers that was built on an islet 
below. The tower was protected by the boule- 
vard of the Beautiful Cross, so named from a 
large and magnificent cross erected near. At 
the eighteenth arch were the celebrated Tour- 
elles — two strong towers united by an arched 
construction, under which passed the bridge. 
The nineteenth arch was reached by a draw- 
bridge, raised and lowered from the Tourelles. 
Thus the water of the river passed between the 
Tourelles and the southern bank. The ap- 
proach on this southern side was strongly de- 
fended by a stockaded boulevard, sixty feet 
long and eighty feet wide, surrounded by a 
moat wide as itself. Beyond this, began the 
suburb of Portereau; in which, two hundred 



124 THE CITY OF OKLEANS 

feet from the bridge, stood the church and 
monastery of St. Augustine. Other churches 
stood farther off. There were several islands 
in the river in those days. The bridge rested 
in midstream on a narrow island, as long as 
itself, thus forming a cross. The larger He aux 
Toiles stretched along the southern shore east- 
ward from near the Tourelles. And farther 
east, the much larger He aux Boeuf s approached 
the northern shore. The eastern suburbs of 
the city nearly reached this island. At the 
other, or western side of the city, in the middle 
of the stream, was the He Charlemagne, with 
its fortifications. At a considerable distance 
beyond the city's eastern suburbs was St. Loup, 
standing four hundred feet over the waters of 
the Loire. It was a convent of Cistercian nuns, 
but was turned into a strong fort by the Eng- 
lish. This was the first position carried by 
Joan. 

The old soldier, Eaoul de Gaucourt, was ad- 
ministrator of Orleans for its captive duke ; and 
William Cousinot, author of the great Chronicle 
of the Maid, was Chancellor. Several writers 
of the time state that because of his captivity, 
a chivalrous promise had been made to the duke 
by the English, to the etf ect that his possessions 
of Orleans would be inviolate. The city ad- 
vanced sums of money to insure its safety, and 
Dunois had lately treated of the matter with 
the invader. But the Duke of Bedford would 
not, and no doubt could not, leave behind him 



THE CITY OF OELEANS 125 

the powerful city unconquered. The citizens 
meanwhile set themselves most actively to pre- 
pare the defense. Clergy and laity contributed 
large sums of money. The towers, gates, and 
moat were repaired or strengthened. Public 
supplication was made to Heaven; and the 
relics of the Saints were carried in procession. 
Cannons were cast — seventy-one of different 
caliber were set on wall and tower during the 
siege. In October (1428) the king sent John 
de Montesclere, a cannonier, who soon became 
famous as John of Lorraine. Various cities 
contributed money, powder, arms, etc. As 
Salisbury approached the Loire, the parliament 
at Bourges voted a large sum of money, not- 
withstanding the general misery. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 

THE Duke of Bedford had returned from 
England in 1427, determined to push on 
the conquest of France. For the time, extraor- 
dinary preparations were made in England. 
The chief point of attack was, naturally, and 
apparently necessarily, the Loire and Orleans. 
At the end of March, 1428, Thomas de Mon- 
tague, Earl of Salisbury, allied to the royal 
family, made a contract with the government 
to enter France in June with six hundred 
men-at-arms, six knights bannerets, thirty-four 
knights bachelors, and seventeen hundred arch- 
ers ; he finally gathered twenty-five hundred 
combatants. The Duke of Bedford added to 
the English host at Paris four hundred lancers 
and twelve hundred archers, making up an army 
of some five thousand men. In March, 1429, 
the feudal levies of Normandy were added. 
About the middle of August, Salisbury began 
the campaign, and wrote at the beginning of 
September that he had already reduced forty 
towns, castles, and fortified churches. This 
brought him to Janville, about twenty miles 
north of Orleans. Janville made a fierce re- 
sistance — the hardest in his experience, Salis- 

126 



THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 127 

bury said. Its walls, flanked with towers, sur- 
rounding the great central donjon, were 
guarded by a double moat. The gallant garri- 
son, few in numbers, were mercilessly massa- 
cred by the victor. Then he summoned Orleans 
to surrender ; but met a flat refusal. 

Meung, eighteen kilometers southwest of Or- 
leans, with its most useful bridge over the 
Loire, submitted immediately ; and was strongly 
fortified. The celebrated sanctuary of Our 
Lady of Clery was only six kilometers distant. 
The Catholic Salisbury sent his soldiers to 
pillage it, and ' ' do other evils without number. ' ' 
Beaugency, farther down the stream, followed 
Meung. Here, too, was a bridge. Finally, by 
taking La Ferte-Hubert, the English made 
themselves quite secure in the Beauce country, 
around Orleans on the north. Then Salisbury 
turned east and crossed to the southern bank. 
Forty-seven kilometers away from Orleans was 
Sully, the property of La Tremoille. His 
brother, a Burgundian partisan, took charge 
of it. Jargeau was nearer — at seventeen kilo- 
meters ; and Chateauneuf , the favorite residence 
of the Duke of Orleans, was between. All were 
occupied. Thus the invader was firmly estab- 
lished below the river and city, in the posses- 
sions of King Charles of France. On the 7th 
of October, a demonstration was made against 
the suburb of Portereau, opposite Orleans ; and 
on the 12th Salisbury here set his camp. The 
French burned the church and monastery of St. 



128 THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 

Augustine, and worked day and night to 
strengthen the boulevard at the end of the 
bridge. The English occupied and strongly 
fortified the still serviceable ruins of St. 
Augustine ; and thence commenced to cannonade 
the Tourelles, the bridge, and the city. Even 
women fought with extreme heroism, pouring 
down boiling oil, burning cinders, etc., on the 
assailants of the boulevard; and repelling at 
the point of the lance the foremost of the foe. 
The place was, however, ruined ; and the French 
retired to the Tourelles, raising the drawbridge 
behind them. The Tourelles, battered by Eng- 
lish cannon, had to be abandoned. It was 
quickly occupied by the foe, and repaired, the 
Scot Grlasdale being put in command. The 
French retreating, had broken down one or two 
arches of the bridge, and fortified themselves a 
little farther on in the boulevard of Belle Croix. 
The Earl of Salisbury had ascended the Tour- 
elles, and stationing himself at a window be- 
tween a knight and Glasdale was observing the 
bridge and city, when a cannon ball, shot 
through the window, killed the knight, and 
hurled a fragment of wall against the head of 
the Earl. His eye was knocked out, his cheek 
torn, and he himself cast to the ground. Re- 
moved in secrecy to Meung, he died there on 
November 3rd. 

The Duke of Bedford arrived at Chartres, 
forty or fifty miles away to the north, and sent 
reenforcements. In November and December 



THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 129 

the besiegers secured their positions on the 
southern side of the river. Thus the city was 
cut off from King Charles and his states. Next 
day after the fall of the Tourelles, Dunois, La 
Hire, Boussac, and other captains came to en- 
courage the people. Probably by their advice, 
the suburbs on the northern side were de- 
stroyed, including twenty-two churches. The 
French cannon began to annoy the English; 
and, in particular, the culverin of John of Lor- 
raine, picked off many a besieger. This was a 
long slender piece, which threw leaden balls to 
a great distance. At Christmas there was an 
armistice; and at the request of Glasdale, 
Dunois sent a corps of musicians to play in the 
English camp. 

Talbot, Scales, and others arrived with reen- 
forcements on the 1st of December; and on the 
30th twenty-five hundred more soldiers came. 
The English occupied the height of St. Laurent- 
les-Orgerils, a strong position on the river, west 
of the city, and nearly at the end of the fau- 
bourgs. A bastille, or tower, nearly opposite, 
on He Charlemagne, facilitated communications 
with the southern bank, on which stood the fort 
of St. Prive, and thus with the defenses which 
cut off the city on the south — the Tourelles, St. 
Augustine, and St. Jean-le-Blanc, at the eastern 
end of Ile-aux-Toiles. This was done in the 
midst of hard fighting — sorties, hand-to-hand 
combats, and many examples of individual 
bravery. 



130 THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 

The siege bad lasted about four months, when 
the terrible defeat of Rouvray on February 
12th overwhelmed with consternation the 
French king, court, and city of Orleans. On 
Ash-Wednesday an immense convoy of three 
hundred wagons left Paris to provision the 
army besieging Orleans. It was protected by 
fifteen hundred Anglo-Burgundian troops, with 
a thousand men of the communes, under Sir 
John Fastolf, and the Provost of Paris, Simon 
Morhier. King Charles, at the urgent prayer 
of his people, appealed to Charles de Bourbon, 
Count of Clermont. With the latter came many 
nobles of Auvergne and Bourbonnais, number- 
ing at least four thousand men as they arrived 
at Blois. Many others had come to Orleans, to 
join in the attack on the convoy. Fifteen hun- 
dred, amongst whom were many Scots under 
Sir John Stuart of Darnley and his brother, 
went out from the city to join Bourbon at Rou- 
vray. The latter, one of the chronicles says, 
was so confident of victory, that he ordered no 
quarter to be given. La Hire, with the Stuarts 
and others, advanced to reconnoiter, and saw 
the long line of wagons slowly advancing. 
They sent couriers repeatedly to Bourbon to 
allow them to attack before the English could 
form for battle. But the vain and inefficient 
French commander bade them wait for him, and 
proceeded to confer knighthood on his nobles. 
Fastolf immediately arrayed his men behind a 
barricade of wagons and the usual stockade, the 



THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 131 

knights in the center, protected by archers. 
The arrow-flight of the French van left the 
English immovable. Stuart of Darnley dis- 
mounted to fight on foot ; others imitated him ; 
others pushed on their horses. But the Eng- 
lish shafts and stockade threw them into con- 
fusion; and the troops, issuing from their im- 
provised defenses, cut the French army to 
pieces. Some four hundred French knights 
were slain, and with them the two Stuarts and 
their Scottish soldiers. Dunois was wounded 
and thrown from his horse, but was re-seated 
and saved. Bourbon, informed of the fortune 
of the battle, made no attempt to help, although 
he had men enough still to snatch victory from 
the now scattered English. He rode into Or- 
leans at midnight. Only one Englishman lost 
his life, says the partisan Monstrelet ; probably 
disdaining to mention the drivers and camp- 
followers. On the 18th of February Bourbon 
abandoned the city, accompanied by its Scottish 
Bishop Kirkmichael, with the Archbishop of 
Eheims, and the noble host of two thousand un- 
wounded knights and others who had turned 
their backs to the foe. La Hire went out, too, 
but promised and intended to return. Two 
months later came Joan with the long-expected 
convoy. 

Things had come to such extremes after 
Rouvray, that the citizens invited the Duke of 
Burgundy to take possession of the city. 
Pleased with the proposition, he went person- 



132 THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 

ally to the regent at Paris; but he was rather 
brusquely refused. The English soldiers had 
carried on the siege and their victory seemed 
assured ; they would not allow the Duke of Bur- 
gundy to gather the fruit. Piqued at his 
failure, the duke ordered his adherents to quit 
the camp before Orleans. According to the 
most careful writers, they could not have been 
very numerous, for there was an armistice be- 
tween King Charles and Burgundy, and during 
the investment there is scarcely mention of any 
but English besiegers. The Duke of Bedford 
now asked for two hundred lancers and twelve 
hundred archers from England, and urged the 
young king to come to France to be crowned. 

The cordon of investment was drawn tighter 
around Orleans, and the Journal of the Siege 
notes the decreasing supplies of food sent in. 
The Burgundian Monstrelet states, that at the 
end of seven months' siege the English had in- 
closed the city in a ring of sixty fortifications. 
The very valuable Chronique de la Pucelle, and 
others, say that there were thirteen large forts, 
which commanded every road. A wide space of 
three kilometers, between the fort of St. Pouair 
on the north and St. Loup on the river, 
to the east, which opened into a country well 
secured under English control, after having 
been ineffectually closed by trenches, was finally 
secured by the enormous fort of Fleury. So 
when Joan approached the city, the blockade 
was complete, and the people, as we are told, 



THE SIEGE UNTIL THE COMING OF JOAN 133 

were very short of bread. It is said that thirty 
thousand people were within the walls, which 
raises the population to about twice the normal. 
The difficulty of sending in food must have been 
very great, for Joan gave as a sign of her mis- 
sion the sending in of a convoy safely to relieve 
the people. 

There is no certainty as to the actual number 
of besiegers. The Burgundian Monstrelet puts 
them at eighteen thousand; the most reliable 
chronicles on the side of the French king, at 
ten thousand; Wyndecken, who contradicts 
himself, at three thousand. The army of de- 
fenders varied at various times. After Eou- 
vray and the departure of Charles de Bourbon, 
the defenders, we are told, were few. The Maid 
is said to have brought in two thousand to in- 
crease the force of two thousand five hundred 
already holding the city. 



CHAPTER XIV 

JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 

Section 1. — The Convoy Made Ready at Blois. 
Joan's Letter to the English 

WHEN they spoke to her at Poitiers of the 
great difficulty of sending provisions 
into Orleans, she answered, ''In the name of 
Grod, we shall put them there at our ease, with- 
out a single Englishman leaving his fortifica- 
tions." It was another of her many prophe- 
cies. "She spoke wondrously of matters of 
war," says the Chronique de la Pucelle, refer- 
ring to this time ; ' ' and rode in armor as if she 
had been trained from childhood." 

The Chronicle of Tournay says that Joan left 
Chinon for Blois on April 2nd; she could 
arrive there next day. The journey through 
Blois to Orleans is northeast along the river, 
Blois being at about two-thirds of the way, and 
within forty miles or so of Orleans. It is on 
the north bank, and was the only place with a 
bridge in the hands of the French. Between it 
and Orleans, the English held Beaugency and 
Meung, with their bridges. Joan remained 
some days at Blois while the convoy was being 
prepared, and the soldiers and captains as- 

134 



JOAlSr COMES TO ORLEANS 135 

sembled. She had her confessor Paquerel 
make the standard of the priests, with the rep- 
resentation of Our Lord Crucified. Her own 
was blest in the church of St. Saviour. Around 
it, morn and eve, at Joan's request the priests 
gathered with her and the soldiers, to sing 
hymns and anthems. She allowed no one to 
take part in these devotions but such as had 
confessed. And it was one of the marvels of 
her brief career that the reformation of the 
careless soldiers was almost instantaneous and 
general. She banished evil women from the 
camp, and exhorted with effect the men to go 
to confession. 

It was a formality of the time to summon 
the foe to surrender, in order to prevent the 
effusion of blood. With Joan it was more than 
a formality. She desired that the English 
would recognize her supernatural mission and 
depart, or unite with the French in a much- 
needed Crusade for the defense of Christen- 
dom. After a victory she never asked of them 
any harder terms than before; and she wept 
over their dead, as over those of her country. 

There is a tone of royalty and inspiration in 
this sununons to the English king and nobles to 
quit Prance at the word of the little peasant 
prophetess of Lorraine. There is no senseless 
pride, but the clear and intense consciousness of 
a Divine mission in a crisis of supreme im- 
portance, and the equally intense determina- 
tion to expel the invader from her country. 



136 JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 

The letter begins with the Sacred Names of 
Jesus and Mary, as religious women even now 
write their letters. It became famous, and was 
shown to many during the month between the 
writing and dispatching, in order to make 
known Joan's mission. It was read to her by 
her accusers at Rouen at least three times, and 
each time she pointed out three expressions 
which were not hers. '' Surrender to the 
Maid" should have been "surrender to the 
king"; and the words "body for body," and 
"I am leader of the war," were not employed 
by her. These do not affect the substance of 
her letter or her vocation. Twice, after the 
reading at Rouen, she predicted the loss of 
Paris to the English before seven years, and 
their total expulsion at last, as she predicts in 
her letter. This document is of extraordinary 
significance in its relation to the mission of 
Joan. 

"King of England; and you, Duke of Bed- 
ford, who call yourself regent of the Kingdom 
of France ; and you, William de la Pole, Count 
of Suffolk ; John Lord Talbot, and you, Thomas 
Lord Scales, who call yourselves lieutenants of 
the said Duke of Bedford, give heed to the King 
of Heaven, and yield up to the king the keys 
of all the good cities which you have taken and 
violated in France. The Maid is come on the 
part of God to rescue the royal blood. She will 
make peace, if you leave France, and pay for 
what you have held. And you, archers, com- 



JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 137 

panions of war, gentle and otherwise, return to 
your country on the part of God; if not, you 
will quickly see the consequence to your great 
loss. King of England, God has sent me to 
drive all your forces out of France. You will 
never have the Kingdom of France. The King 
of Heaven, the Son of Mary, gives it to the true 
heir, King Charles, who will enter Paris in fair 
array. If you heed not this message of 
Heaven, you will suffer such things as have not 
been seen in France for a thousand years." 

Such is, in substance, the proclamation of the 
Maid by her herald; which, she said, she dic- 
tated entirely herself, but had shown to some 
of her own party. 

Section 2. — The Eevictualing of Orleans 

The two marshals of France, de Rais and de 
Boussac — the latter, Lord of Ste. Severe, a gal- 
lant soldier, who abandoned neither Orleans nor 
the Maid, but fought with her in all her cam- 
paigns — Admiral de Culan, the fearless La Hire 
and de Lore, appointed to conduct the convoy 
to Orleans, having come to Blois with the Chan- 
cellor Archbishop, the army of three thousand, 
— so numbered by saner critics, with a train of 
sixty wagons of provisions and four thousand 
head of cattle, issued from Blois, probably on 
the morning of the 27th of April ; and crossing 
the bridge over the Loire, began the march by 
the southern side, in order, no doubt, to avoid 
the English outposts at Beaugency and Meung, 



138 JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 

and the mass of their troops in the strong for- 
tifications around the northern side of Orleans. 
At the head was Joan with the priests, with 
banners displayed, chanting the Veni Creator 
and other hymns; it was not a very martial- 
looking vanguard. Joan's page, Louis de 
Coutes, says she ceased not to exhort the men 
to confess, and she received the Blessed Sacra- 
ment herself in presence of the army. The con- 
fessor Paquerel says that two nights were 
passed on the way; and the page adds, that 
Joan was "painfully wounded" by sleeping on 
the ground in full and unaccustomed armor. 
Thus on the evening of the 28th they were in 
front and in view of Orleans, probably from 
the heights of Olivet, about two kilometers 
south of the river. They approached the bank, 
and the English evacuated the fort of St. Jean- 
le-Blanc, which was near. Seeing the river be- 
tween her and the city and the main body of 
the English, Joan ''was very angry and began 
to weep," says the Chronicle of Tournay. 
''She wept much," adds Wyndecken; "for she 
thought her army, shriven and full of intense 
fervor, would be led straight against the foe." 
The Chronicle of the Feast of May says the 
river was in flood, and the wind down-stream; 
so the boats could not be brought across from 
the city. Joan said the wind would presently 
become favorable, as it did in effect. The con- 
voy advanced five or six miles farther up, to 
the Ile-aux-Bourdons, and Dunois came over 



JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 139 

from the city with the boats, borne up-stream 
by the sails. With him came Nicolas de 
Giresme, commander of the Knights of Ehodes, 
who, soon after, passed first, fully armed, to 
the attack of the Tourelles, over the insecure 
boards thrown across the broken arch of the 
bridge. All were astonished at the change of 
wind; and the prophecy of Joan made an in- 
effaceable impression on the mind of Dunois. 
De Gaucourt, governor of the city, declared in 
his testimony for the Rehabilitation of Joan, 
that she predicted in express terms the change 
of wind. 

Joan was, however, angry, and reproved the 
courteous, and no doubt reverential, Dunois for 
not leading her straight against the enemy. 
*'The counsel of God our Lord," she said, ''is 
better than yours. You thought to deceive me, 
and you have deceived yourselves ; for I bring 
you the help of the King of Heaven, who has 
had pity on the city of Orleans. ' ' Dunois had 
heard all about the Maid ; for when she passed 
through Gien, on her way to the king at Chinon, 
she was spoken of at Orleans ; and he sent two 
of his knights to the king for fuller information. 
As a matter of fact, the reputation of Joan had 
already passed far beyond the boundaries of 
her country ; and her prophecies, yet unfulfilled, 
were passing into history. 

When Dunois and the captains with him saw 
Joan 's army, they thought it quite incapable of 
resisting the English and entering the city. 



140 JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 

''The English," Dunois said, "were very much 
stronger." He endeavored to persuade Joan 
to let them return to Blois for further reenf orce- 
ments, and to enter Orleans herself, in order 
to encourage the people, who desired intensely 
to see her. She did not easily consent; her 
men were ready, full of ardor, and not afraid 
of death; it was better to lead them at once 
against the foe. She yielded, however, and 
sending back her standard and the priests, she 
passed over the river with Dunois, bringing her 
squire and page. Meanwhile, the provisions, 
put on the boats at Ile-aux-Bourdons, passed 
down with the stream, in front of the strong 
English bastille of St. Loup, upon which an 
attack was made from the city, in order to dis- 
tract the garrison. It was estimated, that, at 
this time, the French troops in Orleans were 
not more than three thousand, being only one- 
third of the English numbers. 

To avoid tumult, and perhaps needless 
danger to her companions, Joan resolved to 
enter Orleans at nightfall. She crossed the 
river in front of Checy, and going two kilo- 
meters farther, she waited in the castle of de 
Reuilly. The much-honored host became one of 
the most trusted and devoted of her friends. 
In the hottest of the attack on the Tourelles, he 
fought beside her ; and it was here, probably, he 
saw Joan's angels. 

So distinguished did he become, that Joan 
begged the king to raise him to the rank of the 



JOAN COMES TO OELEANS 141 

nobility. This seems to have been done very 
soon, even before the battle of Patay. And in 
the patent of nobility, the king says he rewards 
him for his ''extreme fidelity" to the Maid, and 
refers to the vision of angels, adding that he 
had received the whole story from Joan herself. 
Henceforward, Guy de Cailli, Lord of Chateau 
de Reuilly, bore on his escutcheon three heads 
of angels. 

Section 3. — Joan Enters the City 

Dunois, with knights and soldiers, went out 
to meet the Maid at Checy. Marching back un- 
attacked, past the English fort of St. Loup, the 
inspired and inspiring company reached the 
eastern, or Burgundian, gate at eight o'clock. 
Joan was in full armor, and mounted on a mag- 
nificent white horse. As she entered the city, 
Dunois, richly accoutered, rode at her left ; she 
was, plainly, the hope of Orleans. Many 
nobles, with captains, squires, and soldiers, fol- 
lowed in her train. She was met by the multi- 
tudes of the city, carrying torches, who received 
her with transports of joy, as if an angel had 
descended from heaven for their relief. The 
Maid looked upon them all — ^men, women, and 
children — with much affection, says the Journal 
of the Siege; and they pressed forward with ex- 
traordinary enthusiasm to touch her or the 
horse on which she rode. In the presence of 
the crowd, a pennon of her standard caught fire 
from a torch ; but she spurred her charger, and 



142 JOAN COMES TO ORLEANS 

turning to the banner put out the flame with a 
grace as knightly as if she had long since fol- 
lowed the wars. With unrestrained jubilee the 
citizens conducted her across the city; but she 
insisted on first paying a visit to the cathedral 
to thank God. Then she was lodged in the man- 
sion of the treasurer, Jacques Boucher, on the 
western border of the city, not far from the 
English fort of St. Laurent. Her host received 
her with joy, accompanied by her brothers, the 
gentlemen who came with her from Vaucouleurs, 
and their servants. She had not eaten all day 
in the strain and excitement; and now they 
offered her supper. She put some wine in a 
cup ; filled it with as much more water ; and dip- 
ping in it a few mouthfuls of bread, ate only 
this much. Then she retired with the wife and 
daughter of her host. 



CHAPTER XV 

JOAN BAISES THE SIEGE 

WHEN Joan entered Orleans, all but two 
hundred lancers of her force returned 
with the leaders to Blois to bring up another 
convoy of provisions. They promised to return 
by the north bank, through the Beauce country, 
despite the English garrisons at Beaugency and 
Meung, and their strong forts around Orleans. 
At Blois, however, the French war council was 
far from being decided or unanimous. The 
chiefs spoke, and apparently with intent, of re- 
turning to Chinon or home. Dunois sent a let- 
ter which confirmed their courage, but had 
finally to go himself. 

Joan had entered the beleaguered city on 
Friday, April 29th. On Saturday, the last day 
of the month. La Hire, Florent d'Hliers, and 
several knights and squires, with some armed 
citizens, all now inspired with fearless ardor, 
flung their banners to the breeze; and issuing 
northwards from the city without informing 
Joan, attacked the English at their strong fort 
of St. Pouair so fiercely that these fell back to 
the cover of their defenses. A cry went up 
through the city to prepare straw and faggots 

143 



144 JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 

to fire the English quarters. But the stubborn 
foemen raised their much-feared battle shout 
and made ready their array. Seeing which, the 
French withdrew. It was a long and hard 
skirmish, with cannon, says the chronicler; and 
many fell on both sides. 

As evening fell Joan sent two heralds to the 
English, demanding the release of the messen- 
ger who had brought her letter from Blois; 
while Dunois threatened to kill all the English 
prisoners, as well as envoys who had come from 
England to treat of ransom. Contemporary 
writers say Joan assured the heralds they 
would return in safety, as they did. They told, 
at their return, of the insulting words of the 
English leaders, and their menace to burn Joan 
if they could catch her. At nightfall she went 
to the French fort of Belle Croix on the bridge, 
and summoned Glasdale and his men at the 
Tourelles to surrender to God and be gone. 
Glasdale, in particular, called her by the vilest 
names. This she felt bitterly, and wept. She 
did not deserve the names, she said ; and as for 
her insulter, he would -soon die a bloodless 
death. He was drowned at the taking of the 
Tourelles. 

On Sunday, first of May — the month of 
Joan's triumph, capture and death — Dunois, 
La Hire, and the other captains consulted Joan 
regarding the manner of the city's defense. It 
was decided that Dunois, with d'Aulon and 
others, should depart with a guard for Blois, to 



JOA]Sr RAISES THE SIEGE 145 

bring up reenforcements and food. When they 
were ready to move out, Joan mounted; and, 
accompanied by La Hire with a band of sol- 
diers, put herself between Dunois' party and 
the English forts; he thus passed unattacked. 
On the same day (Sunday) Joan rode through 
the city with a troop of knights and squires, to 
be seen by the people and to encourage them; 
for in their desire to see her, they almost broke 
open the doors of the house at which she stayed. 
The streets were so thronged that it was diffi- 
cult to pass along; but her appearance and 
horsemanship fascinated the people. On that 
day, also, she summoned the English to depart 
at the Croix Morin, northwest of the city. On 
the following day, Monday, May 2nd, she boldly 
rode out, and leisurely reconnoitered the Eng- 
lish positions, followed by a delighted and fear- 
less multitude of the townspeople. It was the 
eve of the patronal feast of the cathedral of the 
Holy Cross, and Joan assisted at the first 
vespers of the solemnity. On the feast of the 
morrow (May 3rd) she was in the procession 
through the streets, in which were carried the 
relics of the Holy Cross. On Wednesday, the 
4th, she sallied out with de Villars, Florent 
d'llliers, La Hire, with many other captains and 
five hundred men, to cover the entry of Dunois 
and de Boussac with the convoy. The immo- 
bility of the hitherto victorious English soldiers 
is astonishing, and their fear is attested by all 
the contemporary chronicles. The word of 



146 JOAN EAISES THE SIEGE 

Dunois is evidently true, ' ' From the summoning 
of them by Joan to surrender, four or five hun- 
dred Frenchmen could resist any force the Eng- 
lish could send; whereas, heretofore, two hun- 
dred English routed from eight hundred to one 
thousand Frenchmen." 

This 4th day of May Joan's work began in 
earnest. After dinner, says d 'Anion, Dunois 
came to visit her where she was lodged. He 
said that many trustworthy reports had come 
of the approach of Sir John Fastolf with men 
and food sent by the English regent from Paris. 
Joan's face was radiant at the news. "I com- 
mand you in the name of God," she said with 
gay familiarity to Dunois, ''to let me know 
when Fastolf appears ; for if you do not, I will 
have your head." Her gallant commander as- 
sured her she would get the first news. Then, 
as he left the house, Joan and her hostess 
sought to rest, while d 'Anion stretched himself 
on a couch. But he had hardly closed his eyes 
when Joan roused him hurriedly, saying that 
her Voices bade her go against the foe ; but she 
knew not whether against Fastolf or the forts. 
She knew nothing of the attack being made on 
St. Loup. D 'Anion armed her quickly as he 
could; but before he could follow, she dashed 
into the street, made a page dismount from his 
horse, sprang into the saddle, and galloped 
straight eastward to the Burgundian gate, the 
fire flying from the stones as she sped, the old 
chronicles take care to relate. She afterwards 



JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 147 

said her Voices told her where to go. Here she 
paused to ask who was the wounded man that 
was being carried in. And when she heard he 
was one' of the defenders, she said, as d 'Anion 
came up, "I never yet have seen French blood 
shed without my hair standing on end." As 
they passed through the streets and the gate, 
they heard cries that it was going ill with the 
French. They soon came up with a strong 
French force, fifteen hundred men under Dunois 
and several nobles. All turned to the strong 
English fortification of St. Loup for an imme- 
diate assault. Its defenders fought hard for 
three hours; but the French were irresistible. 
The place was stormed, one hundred and four- 
teen English soldiers were slain and forty made 
prisoners, then the whole place was burned and 
razed to the ground. The French losses were 
very few; and none, it is said, after Joan had 
come up. The Chronicle of the Maid says that 
some Englishmen were taken in the tower 
vested as priests, no doubt, in order to escape. 
These were about to be slain, when Joan saved 
them, saying that everything belonging to the 
Church should be respected — thus teaching a 
fear and horror of sacrilege, so common in war. 
During the assault on St. Loup, Lord Talbot 
sent a strong force to help it from St. Pouair, 
on the northwest of the city. The bells of Or- 
leans gave the alarm; and de Boussac and other 
leaders with six hundred men hurried out 
against them, at sight of whom the foe with- 



148 JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 

drew. It was an evening of jubilee in Orleans 
as Joan entered with her victorious troops. 
All the bells rang out in joy and triumph; and 
there was thanksgiving and the multitudinous 
singing of hymns in every church. The Eng- 
lish invader heard it all, and feared the more; 
"for there was no such great joy yesterday and 
the day before." 

Paquerel, Joan's confessor, relates, that, be- 
cause of the many English soldiers slain with- 
out confession, Joan bitterly lamented their 
fate; and she herself immediately confessed. 
She bade him warn all the men-at-arms to con- 
fess their sins, and thank God for the victory; 
and that if they did not, she would not accom- 
pany them. On that same day, the eve of the 
Ascension, she told him the siege would be 
raised before five days would have passed, and 
that not an Englishman would remain outside 
the walls. In the evening she said to him that 
on the morrow, in honor of the feast of the 
Ascension, she would not wear armor nor en- 
gage in combat ; but that she would receive Holy 
Communion ; as, in effect, she did. 

On Ascension Thursday she had public an- 
nouncement made, that no one should go out of 
the city to fight without confession, and that all 
evil women should be banished from the French 
camp: '*It was done as Joan ordered." On 
each of these days of conflict she herself went 
to confession. On Ascension Day she again 



JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 149 

wrote to the English to depart without blood- 
shed. *^You have no right to be here," she 
wrote; ** depart, or I will cause you such a de- 
feat as never shall be forgotten." Then, tak- 
ing an arrow, she attached the letter to it, and 
bade an archer shoot it into the English camp, 
while she cried out to them, '^Read; there is 
news." They called her by the vilest name; 
"at which she sobbed and shed an abundance of 
tears." Soon she was consoled, and said she 
had news of her Lord. 

It is not always easy to harmonize the dif- 
ferent contemporary accounts of the deeds of 
Joan, as the observers saw different scenes, and 
each describes what impressed him most. The 
chiefs held a council on the feast of the Ascen- 
sion, and called in Joan only at the end. Even 
then they wished to conceal from her the plan 
of battle, and even their intention to cross the 
Loire, and attack on the south side. Joan was 
annoyed, and would not sit down, until Dunois 
soothed her and revealed more or less the de- 
cision of the council. By clearing the foe from 
the south side, communications would be as- 
sured with the king and the loyal provinces. 
But the feat was difficult to accomplish ; for the 
English commander could attack the French 
soldiers as they crossed the river, and could re- 
enforce his own men, who were strongly in- 
trenched. It was decided by the French leaders 
to make a diversion against the English on the 



150 JOAN BAISES THE SIEGE 

north side of the city during the crossing of the 
streani; but Joan led them straight to the forts 
on the south. 

"On the morning of Friday, May 6th," says 
Paquerel, "I got up very early, heard Joan's 
confession, and sang Mass for her and her 
people in the city of Orleans. Then they set 
out for the attack, which lasted from morning 
until the evening." Joan crossed with about 
four thousand men, and at the head of the sol- 
diers proceeded straight to the first fort, St. 
Jean-le-Blanc. This was either taken, or 
evacuated and burned by the English as they 
fell back to St. Augustine. Many of her party 
had been halted in the river at Ile-aux-Toiles for 
lack of boats, or had fallen back from the at- 
tack. Followed by only a small number of men, 
amongst whom were Dunois, de Boussac, and 
La Hire, she advanced and set her standard 
over the moat of the boulevard, or encircling 
earthwork, of St. Augustine. An English cheer 
announced reenforcements from St. Prive, 
farther down-stream; and Joan's men, to her 
great affliction, ran back towards the river. 
There was nothing to do but to follow them. 
The English, too, followed in numbers, shouting 
insults. Suddenly she turned on them; the 
French began to follow; and the English re- 
tired to the cover of their fort. D 'Anion's ac- 
count is that Joan and La Hire, having retired 
to the island, took each a horse, re-crossed im- 
mediately to the south side, mounted instantly, 



JOAN KAISES THE SIEGE 151 

and setting their lances in rest, rushed upon 
the enemy. When Joan had planted her banner 
on the boulevard, de Eais quickly joined her. 
He was followed by many others, who attacked 
with such fury that the bastille of St. Augustine 
was taken by assault. Within they found many 
English slain; and because her soldiers forgot 
their danger in cupidity of plunder, Joan 
burned the whole place. She had been wounded 
in the foot, and was, much against her will, 
brought back to Orleans at night. She left her 
men besieging the Tourelles and its outworks 
at the end of the bridge. 

The opposition of some of the captains to 
Joan is revealed by various chroniclers. For 
instance, Jean Chartier, the official historiog- 
rapher, tells of their purpose to exclude her 
from the councils of war ; they felt humiliated 
at the leadership of the peasant girl. Joan, he 
says, almost always came to a decision different 
from that of the captains. They did not wish 
to see her armed or mounted, strange to say, 
even to save her country. On the night of this 
victory of the 6th, Paquerel relates, that *'a 
valiant and notable knight came to the lodgings 
of Joan, to persuade her not to attack the Tour- 
elles on the following day, because the captains 
disapproved." What moral courage the 
heroine needed to disregard the leaders! The 
English position was, moreover, very strong 
and stoutly defended. But Joan answered 
without hesitation, *'You have been at your 



152 JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 

council, and I have been at mine. Believe me, 
the council of the Lord will prevail, while that 
of men will be brought to naught." Then, 
turning to Paquerel, she said, '*Eise early to- 
morrow, earlier than to-day. Remain always 
near me ; for to-morrow I shall have much to do 
— much more than I have ever had in my life. 
To-morrow the blood will gush from my body 
above the breast." 

"Saturday," he continues, "I arose at dawn 
and celebrated Mass. Joan went straight to at- 
tack the fort of the bridge, which was held by 
the Englishman (Glasdale). The attack lasted 
without interruption from morning until sunset. 
In the assault of the afternoon, Joan, as she 
had foretold, was struck by an arrow above the 
breast. She began to fear and wept; but, as 
she said, she was consoled. Some soldiers, see- 
ing her so severely wounded, wished to employ 
a charm. But she said she would rather die 
than do a sinful thing. Then they put on the 
wound olive oil and lard. After which, she con- 
fessed to me with tears and lamenting. She 
returned to the assault, calling out, * Glasdale, 
Glasdale, surrender to the King of Heaven. 
You called me a bad woman ; but I have much 
pity on your soul and the souls of your com- 
panions. ' Then she saw Glasdale fall into the 
river; and, moved with compassion, she began 
to weep with great sobs for the soul of Glasdale 
and the other Englishmen, who, in great num- 
bers, perished in the water. On that day all 



JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 153 

the English beyond the bridge either were taken 
prisoners, or lost their lives." Thus far 
Paquerel. 

Yet in the morning of that great day, de 
Ganconrt was at the gate of the city to prevent 
the Maid's departure, and the attack on the 
Tourelles was begun without the aid of the 
royal officers. 

Many more details of the taking of the Tour- 
elles are given by the chroniclers. The pre- 
ceding night (of Friday) was one of anxious 
fear for Joan lest the English would attack her 
men during the night. On the contrary, they 
burned their fort of St. Prive, and retreated 
across the river to the fort St. Laurent. When 
offered food in the morning after her Com- 
munion before crossing the river, she refused 
to eat until evening, saying they would have 
Englishmen to share their supper. All the 
French captains thought that the English posi- 
tion at the Tourelles could not be taken within 
a month, even with twice the number of their 
soldiers. *'I will take it to-morrow," she said; 
''and return by the bridge." The bridge just 
then was broken down at the southern end. At 
seven in the morning on Saturday she had the 
trumpets sounded for the assault as she ar- 
rived at the place of combat. Immediately the 
attack began furiously. As it progressed the 
captains in the city, passing along the bridge to 
the broken arches, rained a hail of death on the 
Tourelles with cannon, culverins, and arrows. 



154 JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 

They brought planks to cover the broken space, 
and so pass over to the English position. As- 
sault after assault was made by Joan 's soldiers, 
attempting to fill up the moat, fire the place if 
possible, and fix their scaling-ladders. In one 
of these furious attacks Joan was shot with an 
arrow clear through the shoulder. She herself 
drew it out, and had the wound staunched with 
cotton. Meanwhile as evening fell, Dunois and 
the others thought it impossible to succeed, and 
were about to sound a retreat. Joan assured 
them they would soon take the place; and 
mounting her horse, rode aside to pray. She 
quickly returned; and dismounting, took her 
standard and advanced with the prophecy that 
as soon as it touched the wall, the place would 
be theirs. ' ' Fierce and marvelous ' ' was the as- 
sault; no soldier there had ever seen another 
like it. Joan set the scaling-ladders and bade 
her men go in. Meanwhile, the cannonade from 
the bridge was so sustained that the English 
could not show themselves on the walls. They 
fought, however, with the most stubborn 
bravery; and when their ammunition began to 
run short, defended themselves with stones and 
with their lances. At length, unable to hold 
the boulevard, they attempted to get into the 
Tourelles over the drawbridge. This broke 
under them; and falling through fully armed, 
Glasdale and many others perished. The 
French on the bridge attempted to throw planks 
across the broken arches. The gallant Knight 



JOAN RAISES THE SIEGE 155 

of Rhodes, Nicolas de Giresme, attempted the 
impossible feat of passing over. He succeeded, 
and was followed by others. Then the Tour- 
elles, assailed on both sides, quickly fell; and 
of five hundred English knights and squires, 
reputed the best, only two hundred remained 
alive as prisoners, who passed over the bridge 
with Joan, as she had foretold. It was almost 
night, and all the bells pealed at her command, 
and in each church there was thanksgiving to 
Grod. Her wound was carefully dressed; but 
for supper she had only a little bread dipped 
in wine, and she retired to rest. 

Through all this fierce affray Talbot and 
Suffolk made no attempt whatsoever to help 
their hard-pressed comrades. 

The Registrar of La Rochelle, a respectable 
chronicler, says that Joan after taking the 
Tourelles, warned Talbot to depart; for if he 
remained until Monday, she would do him much 
harm. On Sunday, May 8th, at sunrise, the 
English evacuated the remaining forts, leaving 
most of their cannon and baggage ; and drawn 
up in order, remained for an hour in view of 
the French, who had issued in force, horse and 
foot, from the city, at the same time. Joan 
forbade the army to attack; because she said, 
it was not pleasing to Our Lord to fight on that 
sacred day. She assembled the priests, who 
sang hymns; and, in presence of both armies, 
two Masses were celebrated in the open air. 
When they were said, she asked what way the 



156 JOAN EAISES THE SIEGE 

English were going; and being told that they 
were marching away, she said, *'Let them go; 
you will have them another time." Their 
abandoned forts were pillaged and destroyed, 
the cannon being removed to Orleans. Suffolk 
with a part of the English troops went to Jar- 
geau on the Loire, nearly five leagues east of 
Orleans; while Talbot, Scales, and others, led 
their men to Meung, four and one-half leagues 
to the west, or rather southwest, and Beau- 
gency, about two leagues farther down-stream. 
La Hire and Ambrose de Lore, with one hundred 
lancers, hung on the rear of the retreating foe 
to see their course, and then returned. On 
that Sunday of triumph there were processions 
in the streets of Orleans, and in them were 
blended in a common joy noble and plebeian; 
knight, squire, and citizen. On Monday or 
Tuesday (May 9th or 10th) Joan bade good-by 
to the people, who wept with joy, and offered 
themselves and all they possessed to help her 
in her campaign. 




w#«» 






J 4 




!' 




THE CORONATION OF CHARLES VII AT RHEIMS 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE CAMPAIGN OF THE, LOIRE 

Section 1. — Joan Goes to Meet the King 

AFTER Orleans had been relieved, some of 
the French troops returned to the towns 
of which they had formed the garrison. Some 
disbanded; for food was scarce, and money 
scarcer. The brave and skillful Dunois, with de 
Boussac and others, wished to follow up the 
advantage given them by victory, and marched 
on Jargeau, the next strongest place held by the 
English, twelve miles or so west of Orleans. 
The attack, or skirmish, lasted three hours ; but 
Dunois had no means of crossing the moat 
flooded from the river, and withdrew. 

Meanwhile Joan had gone to Blois, on the 
9th or 10th of June, with many of the nobles, 
and, apparently, a part of the army. It had 
mustered at Blois, thirty-five or forty miles 
below Orleans on the Loire before the siege. 
She was on her way to the king, to urge his 
coronation at Rheims. It was the second great 
stage of her prophecy and career. Her sign 
was her triumph at Orleans; then she was to 
lead the king to Rheims; for she said '*she 

157 



158 THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE 

would last — or live — little more than a year." 
After two or three days at Blois, she went al- 
most as far more southwest on the river, to 
Tours, whither the king came on June 13th from 
Chinon, farther southwest, to meet her. 

It is not altogether in accordance with his- 
tory to represent, at this period, King Charles 
of France as a puppet, or a do-nothing. In the 
midst of treason and poverty, he seems to have 
done what he could. His acceptance of the aid 
of Joan of Arc was a piece of master-policy. 
After Orleans, he published officially every- 
where her peerless deeds, attributing the victory 
entirely to her, and justly declaring that he 
seconded her efforts as well as he could. Now 
he met her at Tours as a saint and conqueror. 
In the midst of the glittering array, he uncov- 
ered his head as she approached, bowed low 
with joyous gratitude, and raised her up as she 
bent before him, while he loudly proclaimed her 
praises and those of his valiant captains. 

They remained two weeks at Tours; and, 
naturally, there was much deliberation as to 
the course to be pursued. The princes of the 
blood and the royal captains proposed a cam- 
paign in Normandy — perhaps to get rid of the 
leadership of Joan; or because Normandy was 
so wasted and so determinedly held by the Eng- 
lish. Others proposed to clear the Loire of the 
invaders, and not leave them in the rear. And 
this Joan approved of when she had finally in- 
duced the king to undertake the march to 



THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE 159 

Eheims. But she herself, eagle-like, had urged 
Eheims immediately for the crowning, and Paris 
directly after — a plan which would undoubtedly 
have succeeded ; then she could have driven the 
English into the sea. The king dispatched his 
messengers to call in the noble leaders, as well 
as those that had been at Orleans and those 
that had not. He then moved southwest, about 
thirty miles to Loches on June 23rd, where 
preparations were being made for the attack on 
Jargeau. Here there was further delay, and 
the ardent Joan wearied of it. Dunois was 
with her to help on her cause. He represents 
her knocking at the door of the king's chamber, 
where he sat with his nobles ; and embracing his 
knees, as was her way, while she begged him to 
hold no more councils, but go at once to Eheims ; 
for, once crowned, she said, his enemies would 
decline. The English understood this master- 
stroke, for Bedford urged the crowning of 
the boy-king of England in France. As at Vau- 
couleurs, Joan felt the pain and sting of desire 
to accomplish her mission. 

Section 2. — Preparation for the Campaign 

The letter of the two Lavals represent Joan 
with the king at Selles, on June 5th, forty or 
fifty miles northeast from Loches, on the way 
to the rendezvous at Eomorantin, some few 
miles farther on. The two young Breton 
noblemen had come to join Joan, and were will- 
ing to sell or mortgage their possessions in or- 



160 THE CAMPAIGN" OF THE LOIEE 

der to equip themselves. Their grandmother, 
to whom they wrote as well as to their mother, 
was the widow of the famous knight Du 
Guesclin. And it was probably on this account 
that Joan received them so graciously and 
gracefully. She poured them out a cup of 
wine, and said they would soon drink more at 
Paris. She had sent to the grandmother a 
small gold ring ; wishing, she said, that it were 
better. The older of the brothers, Guy, was 
about twenty years ; the younger, Andre, eight- 
een. Andre had, however, been made a knight 
at the age of twelve on the field of Gravelle, in 
1423. Both followed Joan to Rheims; and we 
find Guy later under the walls of Paris. Both 
rose to lofty station; and their sister became 
the wife of Louis Vendome, from whom sprang 
the Bourbon branch that gave Henry IV to 
France. The Lavals were immensely im- 
pressed by the manner and appearance of 
Joan. Fully armed in steel, she seemed to them 
something divine. On the same day on which 
they saw her she went on to Romorantin. These 
were the days of Joan's high tide of favor and 
admiration. At Loches, as at other places, the 
people crowded around her to kiss her hands 
and feet. Reproved, or warned, by one of her 
ecclesiastical examiners at Poitiers, that this 
was encouraging idolatry, the lowly, simple- 
hearted Maid said that it was only the grace of 
Heaven kept her from being vain of it. 

The king had now appointed d'AleuQon to the 



THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIEE 161 

chief command, with the express order, we are 
told, that he should follow implicitly the pro- 
gram of Joan of Arc. This the young noble- 
man — he was only twenty-two years of age — 
willingly and faithfully did. There were now 
at Romorantin about two thousand men-at- 
arms ; and with these Joan began her march to 
Orleans, just as Fastolf was leaving Paris with 
five thousand to reenf orce the English garrisons 
on the Loire. 

Section 3. — The Taking of Jargeau 

She entered Orleans on June 9th, and the 
grateful and enthusiastic city quickly made 
ready her war train against Jargeau. This 
strong town was on the south bank of the Loire, 
about twelve miles east of Orleans, and held by 
the Earl of Suffolk with about seven hundred 
men. Its fortified bridge communicated with 
the northern shore. 

The Accounts of the city of Orleans give in- 
teresting details of the preparation of the siege 
train — cannon (one required twenty-four horses 
to draw it), scaling-ladders, powder, rope, a 
forge, etc. D'Alengon estimated his command 
at six hundred lancers; which, with bowmen, 
artillery, etc., would be over two thousand. 
There were many citizen soldiers; and these 
with Dunois' forces would probably make six 
or seven thousand. With the combined force 
were the old leaders — de Boussac, de Culan, La 
Hire, d'llliers, Xaintrailles, etc. But there had 



162 THE CAMPAIGN OP THE LOIRE 

not been unanimity in their counsels. For some 
wished to wait for Fastolf, and go directly 
against him, when he came; some returned 
home ; and it was only Joan's influence that held 
the rest together. 

On June 11th the French forces marched on 
Jargeau, arriving in the afternoon before the 
town. The citizens rashly attacked the English 
garrison before the regular troops came; but 
were beaten back, and some were slain. Joan 
immediately rushed to help them, her banner 
floating on the breeze; the English were re- 
pelled, and the faubourgs of the town were 
occupied. As night fell Joan summoned Suf- 
folk to surrender, but to no purpose. Early 
next day, Sunday, June 12th, the trumpets an- 
nounced the assault, which soon became furious. 
A tall, strong Englishman, clad in armor, 
caused great loss to the French by hurling on 
them heavy stones as they attempted to scale 
the fortification. D'Alengon summoned the 
famous cannoneer, John of Lorraine, who, with 
his culverin, shot the Englishman in the breast, 
and he fell dead out over the wall. D'Alen§on 
himself wa-s warned by Joan to step aside, for 
a cannon was pointed at him from the wall. 
Almost immediately a gentleman from Anjou, 
stepping imprudently into the place of the duke, 
was killed, his head being struck off with a 
cannon-ball. Suffolk proposed an armistice of 
fifteen days ; his purpose being to wait for Fas- 
tolf 's reenforcements. Joan answered that if 



THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE 163 

they wished to leave immediately and without 
arms, they might do so; while her captains 
angrily called to La Hire to break off the parley. 
Assault after fierce assault had lasted for 
hours, when Joan called on the ''fair Duke of 
Alen§on" to advance with her and lead in 
storming the walls. He hesitated, judging it 
rashness to make the attempt. Joan gently 
chided him. ''Gentle Duke,'^ she asked, "are 
you afraid? Do you not remember I promised 
your wife to bring you back safe*?" Then he 
accompanied Joan as she sprang into the moat 
where the fight was fiercest, and attempted to 
ascend a ladder. A stone, hurled at her, struck 
her to the ground. But she was up in a mo- 
ment. "Go up boldly," she cried, "and in 
upon them; the place is ours." So it was. 
The English could resist no longer, and at- 
tempted to cross the bridge over the Loire. 
The Earl of Suffolk's brother, Alexander, was 
slain; and the earl himself, pursued by 
Guillaume Regnault, surrendered to him after 
having conferred on him the dignity of knight- 
hood. Another brother of the earl and many 
of the leaders were made prisoners. The un- 
restrained victors pillaged the town and even 
the church before Joan knew of it; for there 
was much booty stored away. Many prisoners, 
too, in the hands of the gentlemen were 
slaughtered by the municipal soldiers ; and still 
more, it would appear, on the way to Orleans, 
because of a dispute regarding the ransom. 



164 THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIEE 

Joan, to save Suffolk and the others^ had them 
sent by water to Orleans during the night. 
About four or five hundred English soldiers lost 
their lives; and not more than twenty of the 
French, it is said. That night the army 
marched back to Orleans, for the hostile forts 
lay on the other side. 

Section 4. — Meung, Beaugency and Patay 

Meung was twelve miles west, or rather 
southwest, of Orleans, with a fortified bridge 
over the Loire. Beaugency, with another 
bridge, was about half the distance farther 
down. Joan immediately proposed to attack 
these. On June 25th the bridge of Meung was 
taken; and leaving a guard, Joan went on to 
Beaugency, whence Talbot had gone with forty 
lancers and two hundred archers to Janville, 
twenty miles north of Orleans, to meet Sir John 
Fastolf. The faubourgs were taken without a 
blow, and the garrison capitulated. Hither 
came Arthur, Duke of Richemont, the former 
Constable, with four hundred lancers and eight 
hundred archers, his entire force numbering, it 
seems, over two thousand men, to join the army 
of Joan. D'AlenQon was strictly forbidden by 
the king to accept his aid, and threatened to 
resign rather than do so. But the tact and 
patriotism of Joan prevailed, she taking the 
responsibility, and promising to obtain Riche- 
mont 's pardon. He swore fealty to King 



THE CAMPAIGN OP THE LOIRE 165 

Charles, and added his imposing force to Joan's 
army. 

Talbot, in order to save Beaugency, advanced 
to attack the bridge of Meung; but being in- 
formed of the surrender, he retired slowly 
northward, willing to offer battle in a favor- 
able position. The French cavalry, under 
Dunois and La Hire, hung like a cloud upon his 
rear, in advance of their main body. Joan ar- 
dently desired to be in the van with the cavalry ; 
but d'Alengon and Richemont retained her with 
them. On the 18th of June Talbot had gone 
about twelve miles north of Meung through the 
Beauce country, which was wooded ; and so the 
French approached without seeing him. They 
were near Patay when a deer startled by the 
advancing cavalry rushed towards the English 
line and was greeted with shouts. La Hire an- 
nounced their presence to the French leaders, 
and asked Joan what to do. ''Ride hard upon 
them," she said; "and you will have good guid- 
ance. Strike hard, and they will soon run." 
From the morning she had foretold the victory 
and the pursuit. "You will need good spurs," 
she said, "to overtake the English." 

Talbot, seeing his position, halted his rear- 
guard, in order to give Fastolf time to form 
the main body. But La Hire struck the Eng- 
lish guard like a wolf, before they could form 
their array or set their usual stockade. Tal- 
bot, vainly essaying to re-form them, was taken 



166 THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE 

prisoner. Meanwhile Fastolf endeavored to 
draw up his army between a monastery, or 
church, and a wood ; but as Joan, Alengon and 
Eichemont threatened the left wing they broke 
and fled. Dunois put the English losses at four 
thousand: much more than half that number 
were slain. In the wild pursuit, Joan saw an 
English prisoner struck on the head by his cap- 
tor, and knocked senseless. She dismounted 
instantly and took the dying man's head on 
her lap, while she burst into tears, and called a 
priest to hear his confession. The vanquished 
fled to Janville, fifteen or twenty miles to the 
northeast ; but the fortress closed its gates, and 
submitted to King Charles. 



CHAPTER XVII 

JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

Section 1. — Slow to Move 

THE campaign of the Loire was ended in a 
week. At its close, by the sweeping vic- 
tory of Patay, the English power on the Loire 
was hopelessly broken, and the army destroyed 
or unavailing. The garrisons abandoned and 
fired their strong places in the Beauce country, 
north of Orleans — Mt. Pipeau, St. Simon, St. 
Sigismond, etc.; and the towns surrendered to 
King Charles. Adherents flocked to Joan at 
Orleans, and the city was gayly decorated for 
the expected visit of the king ; but he remained 
at Sully, a possession of Tremoille, more than 
twenty miles southeast, on the Loire. Thither 
went the Maid on June 20th, and induced the 
king to come by St. Benoit to Chateauneuf . He 
was here on the 22nd; and there was much de- 
liberation with the captains regarding the pur- 
suit of the campaign. The Maid and some of 
the most distinguished nobles had striven hard 
to reconcile the king and the Duke of Riche- 
mont. At first Charles yielded; but La Tre- 
moille made him refuse absolutely. This 

167 



168 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CBOWNED 

majordomo was the deadly foe of Richemont, 
as the latter was of him. King Charles re- 
tained, moreover, dark memories of Riche- 
mont 's tyranny when he was Constable of 
France. It was one of the conditions an- 
nounced by Joan for the accomplishment of her 
mission that there should be a general amnesty 
for the French princes when they returned to 
their allegiance, and that there should be a cor- 
dial reconciliation of all. The ex-Constable 
was reconciled later, and became the continua- 
tor of Joan's mission in driving the English 
from France. He became Duke of Brittany 
two years before his death in 1458. 

From Chateauneuf the king returned to Sully, 
and Joan to Orleans, to arouse the enthusiasm 
of the people and the soldiers for the march to 
Rheims. ''She drew to the king," says Cou- 
sinot, ''all the men-at-arms, and was supplied 
with arms, food, and wagons." The muster- 
place was Gien, a few miles southeast of Sully, 
on the Loire ; and hither came King Charles. 

In the early morning of June 24th the Maid 
said to the Duke d'Alengon, "Sound the trum- 
pet and mount; it is time to go to the king 
and put him on the road for his coronation at 
Rheims." They arrived at Gien the same day, 
and were received joyously by the king, who 
held high festival in their honor, while all the 
brilliant gathering conversed with astonishment 
about the success of the recent campaign. Joan 
urged an immediate departure for Rheims ; but 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CEOWNED 169 

there were three towns held by the English 
south of them on the river — Bonny, Cosne, and 
La Charite ; and these were summoned by King 
Charles to surrender. He sent Admiral de 
Culan to Bonny the nearest, which yielded on 
the 26th; the others were, for the moment, left 
unmolested. 

There were great deliberations, says the 
chroniclers; during which the queen, Marie of 
Anjou, came to Gien, in order to accompany the 
march and be crowned. But the plan of Joan 
met much opposition. It is clear that many 
were unwilling to follow her; amongst whom 
were several royal captains and nearly all the 
politicians, including the Chancellor Archbishop, 
and especially La Tremoille. This double- 
dealer ''trembled for his position" at court. 
He had many and powerful enemies, who would 
be glad to see him fall. But he had a party, 
too, of men like himself. He supplied money — 
a prime necessity — to the king, although at 
enormous interest; and the unfortunate mon- 
arch, abandoned by fortune, by his mother, and 
by his nobles, had submitted to the influence of 
La Tremoille, which, after all, was scarcely 
more discreditable or more fatal than that of 
the princes of the royal blood. 

The opposition referred to never ceased. A 
difficulty was raised by many, and by the king 
himself, regarding the character of the country 
through which they should pass to reach 
Rheims. A march of eighty leagues through 



170 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

towns and fortresses held by the Anglo-Bur- 
gundian armies seemed rash; the army, more- 
over — probably about twelve thousand men — 
was not provided with siege guns or commis- 
sariat. When all this was said to Joan, she 
answered, "I know the difficulties on the way; 
but I make no account whatsoever of them. I 
will lead the king to be crowned, no matter what 
enemy opposes." 

Drawn by the fame of the Maid, multitudes 
of volunteers of every rank and condition kept 
pouring in to Gien — so many, that the weak and 
narrow Tremoille, alarmed at the number, sent 
many away. So great was the enthusiasm, 
that, in the word of Jean Chartier, * ' all France 
could easily have been won back. ' ' Nor is there 
any reason to doubt his declaration. Nobles, 
captains, gentlemen, the common people — all 
wished to serve with the Maid, without pay and 
in any position. To them she was the envoy 
of Heaven. Gentlemen without money for 
knightly equipment served as common soldiers. 
Noblemen adopted the banner and blazon of 
Joan. Great barons and nobles, hitherto 
craven or disloyal, came to the king or wished 
to come. Amongst these, was, for instance, 
Kene, Duke of Bar, the king's brother-in-law, 
who had done homage to the Duke of Burgundy 
and the English king. He joined the royal 
standard soon after the coronation. The con- 
viction was clearly becoming general that the 
days of English dominion in Prance were num- 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 171 

bered. All that was needed was faith in the 
Maid. But the craven and dubious court circle 
around Charles VII were unworthy of thfe great 
opportunity, and they rejected it. 

The queen was sent back to Bourges in Berri, 
far south of Orleans. Joan must have grieved 
over it ; but she never wavered. On June 25th 
she wrote to the faithful citizens of Tourney in 
Flanders, the only city which remained loyal in 
the north of France. "I invite you," she said, 
''to the coronation of our noble King Charles 
at Rheims, where we will arrive soon." 

The council still lingered; and Joan angered 
by the delays, and hopeless of harmony, boldly 
crossed the Loire with a part of the army and 
many captains. She went on twelve miles on 
the road to Auxerre, as an eagle teaching its 
young to fly. There were ^'manj councils" 
still ; but the king followed on the 29th with ' ' a 
fair company. " " On his way, ' ' says de Cagny, 
''all the fortresses on the right and left sur- 
rendered to him. ' ^ 

Section 2. — What Might Have Been 

After the fatal field of Patay, cities such as 
La Rochelle rang their bells for joy and lighted 
bonfires. There was a riot in Paris; and the 
English regent, the Duke of Bedford, left the 
city for Vincennes, through fear of the fickle 
populace. In his efforts to recruit an army 
there was not much success, and the Picards, 
particularly, had begun to desert. It was prob- 



172 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

ably the time to strike at Paris. But Joan knew 
the heart of France, and the far-reaching influ- 
ence of the crowning. Besides, her Voices had 
traced the way by Rheims to Paris ; it was an 
eagle's course and campaign, and sure to suc- 
ceed. The towns were wavering; and, at the 
appearance of Joan and the king, yielded. The 
province of Champagne was hers after the sub- 
mission of Troyes ; and it submitted at a mere 
show of force. An official or governing group 
occasionally mocked at the Maid, as at Troyes 
and Rheims ; but the people soon welcomed her 
enthusiastically. If Charles' council had been 
wise or efficient, or he himself sufficiently con- 
fident and daring, Joan's oft-repeated words 
would have been undoubtedly true — he could 
have easily and quickly regained all France. She 
was the best politician and soldier of them all. 

There was a court clique which was despic- 
able. They did not wish to go to Rheims ; they 
proposed a retreat at the first show of resist- 
ance at Troyes; and their folly culminated at 
Paris when they did actually turn back, aban- 
doning the Maid, and breaking down a bridge 
by which she could attack the city. They then 
actually retreated to the Loire ! Yet, Joan was 
not broken-hearted at all this. Still she fought ; 
fearing, she said, no foe but treason. 

The Duke of Burgundy was, seemingly, al- 
most as undecided as Charles VII. He had had 
friction with the English. His ambassadors 
appeared at the coronation at Rheims. There 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 173 

had been various armistices and appearances of 
reconciliation with the king of France. But, 
after the coronation he joined the regent Bed- 
ford at Paris through sheer spite or conscience- 
less insincerity. The delays of the French 
court proved fatal. Bedford and Burgundy be- 
ing reconciled, Cardinal Beaufort, the English 
king's uncle, made peace with Scotland, and 
sent against Catholic France a military force 
enlisted for a crusade against the anarchical 
heretics of Bohemia. With these troops came 
a strong band of men recruited by Sir John 
Radcliffe; and the combined army reached 
Paris on the 25th of July. Tremoille's selfish 
hostility and Archbishop Regnault de Chartres ' 
negotiations with the false Burgundians ruined 
the cause of France and sacrificed the peerless 
Maid. Yet the impulse she gave really ruined 
the English cause. 

Section 3. — Joan's Manner of Warfare 

Joan rode with the army fully equipped as a 
knight. It was usual to wear a rather long 
tunic over the armor, and sometimes under it. 
An ample cloak, or loose robe, was also worn. 
The captive Duke of Orleans, whose territory 
was the first freed by Joan from the foe, and 
whose liberation was one of the objects of her 
mission, presented her with very rich and 
costly robes of his own colors — green and crim- 
son, as if making her his champion. After the 
assassination of his father, the green, at first 



174 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

vivid, was turned to brownish ; and after Agin- 
court, where he was made prisoner, became 
darker — the green of the vanquished. The net- 
tle, the badge of his family, was embroidered on 
the robe. 

When in the field, Joan slept in full armor; 
and in houses, always with a female companion. 
We have oft-repeated testimonies that her ap- 
pearance made chaste the hearts of soldiers, 
both noble and lowly. In her campaigns she 
was accustomed to go into a church in the 
evening, accompanied by the priests — and with 
these there were mendicant friars — who sang 
hymns and anthems to Our Lady. Her con- 
fessions and communions were constant, often 
daily. It cannot be denied that the whole army 
was reformed, although there was occasionally 
an outbreak of violence or disorder. When she 
broke her sword on the back of a bad woman 
who got into the camp, the king is reported to 
have chided her and recommended a stick ; not, 
as has been so foolishly and unjustly said, be- 
cause he was depraved, but because, as he him- 
self explained, the sword was pointed out to 
Joan by her Voices. She became very angry, 
she was horrified, the chroniclers relate, when 
she heard any profane speech, and especially 
any profanation of the holy Name of God. 
Etienne de Vignoles (La Hire), one of her first 
friends in need and one of the truest, the gal- 
lant and fearless soldier, used ''to swear like 
a trooper. ' ' But Joan reformed him, and made 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 175 

Mm swear by his baton. Her page, Louis de 
Coutes, says lie frequently heard her reprove 
d'Alengon, her "fair Duke," for swearing. In 
general, he continues, no one swore in her pres- 
ence in the whole army without being repri- 
manded. "She made vehement reproaches," 
confesses d'Alengon, "to those guilty of pro- 
fanity, and especially to myself, who swore 
sometimes. Her presence was enough to make 
profane words die upon my lips." Dunois, 
who completed her work, took Paris, and con- 
quered Normandy and Guyenne, tells that her 
custom was every day at the hour of vespers to 
retire to a church. She had the bells rung 
for half an hour ; then she assembled the priests 
to sing the evening service. D 'Aulon, her con- 
stant companion, said that no one was ever 
more chaste than Joan. "How much I would 
desire," she said to the Archbishop of Rheims, 
"that it were the good pleasure of God my 
Creator to allow me to retire and quit the 
army. I would go and serve my father and 
mother in watching over their sheep, with my 
sister and brothers, who would have great joy 
in seeing me. ' ' 

On the march she sometimes rode at the head 
of the army, sometimes with the king, and some- 
times in the rear. If there were a cry of alarm, 
she was first at the place of danger, whether she 
was on foot or horseback. "It was beautiful 
to hear her talk of war, and to see her marshal 
soldiers." 



176 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

The impression made by Joan on the noble- 
hearted Dunois was life-long. He rose to the 
height of glory under Charles VII, becoming 
the most influential of all in court and camp. 
He was a man of transparent faith and virtue. 
On his portrait in the chateau of Beaugency is 
read the prayer, three times repeated, ''Cor 
mundum crea in me, Deus" — ''0 God create in 
me a clean heart. ' ' He wished to be buried at 
Notre Dame de Clery, where his tomb is pointed 
out. He died in 1456, at the age of fifty-one; 
having been, therefore, twenty-six or twenty- 
seven, in the days of Joan, in 1429. 

Section 4. — A Bloodless March Through Foes 

The army marched or rode from Gien, fifty 
miles due east to Auxerre; before which it en- 
camped on July 1st. Summoned by King 
Charles to surrender, it "yielded not full obe- 
dience"; which seems to mean that there was 
hesitation, or doubt, rather than hostility, and 
which is still further proved by the fact that 
the city was left in the rear unmolested. Per- 
haps it feared the conduct of the soldiers, and, 
probably, still more the vengeance of the Duke 
of Burgundy. Joan and the captains wished 
to take the city by assault; and Joan said it 
could be easily done. But the citizens began 
to make terms, promising such obedience to the 
king as would be rendered by Troyes, Chalons, 
and Eheims. They put into the itching palm 
of Tremoille a douceur of two thousand gold 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE" CROWNED 177 

crowns, to leave the city inviolate; and sold 
much-needed provisions to the army. Many 
captains were indignant, and did not conceal 
their complaints against the favorite and some 
of the other councilors. After three days the 
army marched away northeast to Troyes, which 
was distant some fifty miles or more. On the 
border of Champagne the town of St. Floren- 
tin submitted as they advanced ; and, according 
to de Cagny, all the fortresses along the march 
acknowledged King Charles at the summoning 
of Joan. She was herself the first to hold par- 
ley at the barriers ; and at times she sent some 
one of her party to bid them surrender to the 
King of Heaven. 

At Brienon — I'Archeveque, King Charles 
wrote to the people of Eheims, inviting them to 
prepare for his coronation after the manner of 
his ancestors. Pausing little on the way, the 
army reached St. Phal on the 4th, four leagues 
southwest of Troyes. It was the possession of 
Etienne de Vaudrey, Count of Joigny, an ar- 
dent Burgundian. Joan must have easily taken 
the fortress, the ruins of which are still seen in 
the cultivated fields. From here Joan wrote a 
most remarkable letter to the citizens of Troyes 
— a delightful, warm-hearted invitation: ''My 
very dear and good friends — if you wish to be 
— the Maid commands you, and makes known 
to you in the name of the King of Heaven your 
duty t6 acknowledge the gentle king of France^ 
who will soon be at Rheims and Paris. . . . 



178 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

Loyal Frenchmen, come to meet your king ; for 
I assure you we will enter all the towns that 
belong to France." 

Troyes was, apparently, rebellious. The 
citizens sent a copy of her letter to Kheims, tell- 
ing that the enemy was at their gates. They 
were determined, they said, to keep their oath 
to the Duke of Burgundy and King Henry of 
England, and exhorted Eheims to fight with 
them to death. In their letters and proclama- 
tions they mocked Joan, and gave her an oppro- 
brious name. To Chalons they wrote in the 
same ton^ 

On the morning of July 5th the royal army 
encamped before Troyes. It was the capital of 
Champagne, and had served as an English capi- 
tal in France after the signing of the treaty 
which handed over France to the invader. On 
the day of the treaty fifteen hundred burgesses 
swore in the Cathedral to observe it, and had 
renewed their oath a little before Joan came. 
It had witnessed, or made, the pomp and cir- 
cumstance of the marriage of the '^ gentle Dau- 
phin's" sister Catherine, daughter of the un- 
fortunate Charles VI, with the English King, 
Henry V. The city, like Eheims and Chalons, 
had remained steadfastly attached to the An- 
glo-Burgundian cause. Within it just now 
there were five or six hundred combatants, we 
are told by Cousinot, who bravely came out to 
meet the king's soldiers. The latter attacked 
them with little hesitation, and drove them back. 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE GEOWNED 179 

There was much hunger in the royal army, 
the chronicler goes on to say; thousands had 
been for days without food, and they ate ea- 
gerly the ears of wheat and the new-ripening 
beans sown by the advice of Friar Eichard. 
This was a sensational preacher, who, return- 
ing, according to his own story, from the Holy 
Land in 1428, had preached in Troyes during 
Advent. "Sow beans," he urged every day; 
'^for he who is to come will come soon." The 
crop of beans was an extraordinary one, and 
was providential for the starving soldiers of 
Charles VII. Richard had preached through 
the country, and was in Paris in April of 1429. 
His discourse each day lasted from five to 
eleven in the forenoon, in presence of an audi- 
ence numbering six thousand. Antichrist, he 
said, was already born; and in the year 1430 
there would be wonders greater than the world 
had seen before. He found, however, that the 
theological faculty of Paris was about to pro- 
ceed against him, and he departed suddenly 
and silently in the night. At first he was on 
the Burgundian side, as far as he entered into 
politics. But after his interview with Joan, 
under the walls of Troyes, he followed the Maid 
until December, 1429, or January, 1430; when 
he left her because she would not recognize the 
visionary Catherine of La Rochelle. 

Joan said at Eouen, that Friar Richard was 
sent by the citizens of Troyes, she thought, to 
test whether she was sent by Heaven or not. 



180 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CROWNED 

He approached her, sprinklin-g holy water. 
''Come on boldly," she said; '*I shall not fly 
away." This was on Tuesday, July 5th, the 
day of the coming to Troyes. Eichard carried 
back Joan's letter to the citizens ; but they made 
no answer, and prepared to defend their walls. 
On Friday (8th) the royal council, frightened 
by the rebel temper of Troyes, were about to 
decide upon a retreat, when Robert le MaQon, 
Lord of Treves reminded them that they had 
begun the march at the instance of Joan, and it 
might be well to consult her. Meanwhile, ' ' she 
knocked very loudly at the door of the council 
chamber"; and, having entered, the Archbishop 
summed up the dangers and difficulties of a 
forward march. She turned to the king, and 
asked — very naturally — whether they would be- 
lieve what she had to say. The king said they 
would consider any helpful recommendation she 
had to make. Whereupon she said, ''Gentle 
king of France, this city is yours; remain two 
or three days more, and it will surrender 
through love or fear." The Archbishop said 
they would remain six if she were sure of suc- 
cess. Immediately she sprang into the saddle 
and went through the ranks of the army, hurry- 
ing them all — knights and men-at-arms — ^to 
bring up faggots, doors, tables, windows, to 
shelter the assailants and fill up the moat. She 
planted the cannon, such as they had; and 
pitched the tents nearer to the walls. She la- 
bored with a diligence so marvelous, says Dun- 



JOAN IjEADS the king TO BE CROWNED 181 

ois, that two or three men-at-arms, the most 
famous, and most accomplished, would not have 
equaled her. She advanced the siege work so 
much during the night that seeing this, he con- 
tinues, the Bishop and burgesses, trembling 
with fear, came out to treat of their submis- 
sion with the king. And they afterwards told, 
that, from the time that Joan gave the counsel 
to attack, the people lost heart, and sought 
refuge in the churches. Under the impulse of 
Joan's stern argument, the citizens, says Cous- 
inot, acknowledged that Charles was their law- 
ful king and that Joan had been doing extraor- 
dinary things. The king agreed to let the 
English and Burgundian soldiers go free with 
whatever they possessed. He granted a gen- 
eral amnesty; and confirmed the ecclesiastical 
appointments made under the patronage of the 
English king. The soldiers claimed a right to 
take their prisoners with them ; and were lead- 
ing them away, when Joan, aroused to indigna- 
tion, forbade it. She stationed herself at the 
city gate, declaring, ''In the name of God they 
shall not be taken." The king then paid their 
ransom, and they were freed. 

On the 10th of July about nine o'clock in 
the morning — the day after Joan's prophecy — 
the king entered the city in state with his no- 
bles and captains brilliantly equipped and 
mounted. But Joan, prudent warrior, had 
gone before, and stationed the archers along the 
streets. The army remained outside under 



182 JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CEOWNED 

Ambrose de Lore; and marched off next day 
(the 11th), ''to the great joy of the citizens, 
who swore to be henceforth good and loyal sub- 
jects of King Charles." For his services the 
Bishop, hitherto not on the French side, re- 
ceived later from Charles letters of nobility for 
his family. Their march was straight on, 
northeast to Chalons, forty or fifty miles away. 
Joan's prophecy was that the Burgundians 
would be "stupefied" at the fall of Troyes; and 
such was precisely the effect. Chalons and 
Eheims followed immediately, and Champagne 
was the King's. 

On the march to Chalons, Joan rode in full 
armor at the head of the troops. From Bussy 
— Lestrees, on the 13th, the king sent on his 
promise of amnesty to the people of the city; 
and on the 14th, seeing the approaching army, 
*'a multitude" of the citizens went out with 
their Bishop to meet the king and tender their 
allegiance. The army passed the night in the 
city; and Charles set his officers in charge, as 
at Troyes. 

Here occurred the touching incident of the 
visit of five or six of her old friends of Dom- 
remy to Joan. Jean Morel, her godfather, 
hearing of her fame and of the crowning of the 
king through her heroic campaigns, came to 
Chalons to see her. She made him a present of 
a red garment which she wore — one of the rich 
presents made to her, we may suppose. Gerar- 
din d'I]pinal, another of her godparents, came, 



JOAN LEADS THE KING TO BE CEOWNED 183 

also, to see her, with four of his fellow-villag- 
ers. They had a familiar conversation, full of 
confidence, during which she said to Gerardin, 
that the only thing she feared was treason. 

Next day (the 15th) the army promptly re- 
sumed its march ; and the king passed the night 
at the chateau of Sept-Saulx, the property of 
the Archbishop of Rheims, four leagues from 
the city. Hither came a committee of the citi- 
zens to offer their allegiance ; and the same day 
the king issued a proclamation, annulling all 
acts done in the city by English authority. On 
the afternoon of that day (the 16th) the king 
entered the city in the midst of popular acclaim; 
and all prepared with the greatest diligence for 
the coronation of the morrow. 

Rheims had not been, however, so loyal a lit- 
tle before. Its Burgundian captain, the Seig- 
neur de Chatillon, being absent, was consulted 
quickly on the 8th of July, the people, or at 
least some of them, declaring their loyalty to 
him and their Anglo-Burgundian masters. He 
came to the city with other lords, and promised 
relief in five or six weeks ; whereupon, the peo- 
ple refused to admit his soldiers, and he went 
away. The rapid march of the royal army dis- 
concerted the foe, and Joan 's deeds struck them 
with terror. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE CROWNING 

ON Sunday, July 17th, perhaps the most 
famous, and certainly the most remark- 
able, coronation in the history of France was 
accomplished with military promptitude in the 
cathedral of Notre Dame at Rheims. It began 
at nine o'clock in the morning and continued 
until two in the afternoon. Notwithstanding 
the short and hurried preparation, everything 
was made ready with regal splendor. The 
pomp of court and army, the multitudinous 
acclaim of the enthusiastic people, the flush of 
victory, and the hope of complete conquest — 
all enhanced the historic scene and event. 
Four of the chief military officers, in full armor 
and rich garments, mounted on their war- 
chargers and carrying each his unfurled ban- 
ner, went to seek the sacred ampoule, or cruet 
of oil, which was believed to have had a mirac- 
ulous history, and which had been used by St. 
Remi at the coronation of the converted Clovis, 
king of the Franks. Unless anointed with this 
sacred oil, the kings of France were not consid- 
ered to have begun their reign. 

The Marshals of France, de Rais and de 

184 



THE CROWNING 185 

Boussac, the Admiral de Culan, and the Seig- 
neur de Gravelle, having taken the usual oath 
to guard the venerated cruet, accompanied the 
abbot of the monastery of St. Remi back to the 
gate of St. Denis, at which the Archbishop, in 
richest vestments, and surrounded by his can- 
ons, received it, and bore it to the high altar of 
the cathedral. According to the Angevin Let- 
ter, the knights and abbot rode into the cathe- 
dral, and presented the ampoule to the Arch- 
bishop at the entrance to the choir. Joan stood 
near the king, holding her banner in her hand ; 
for, as she said at Rouen, it deserved this honor 
since it had been through the hardships of war. 
Six secular, or temporal, peers of France, and 
six spiritual — that is. Bishops — used to grace 
the crowning of the kings of France. The dig- 
nity of the secular peers had been absorbed by 
the crown; there remained but one, the rebel 
Duke of Burgundy. His place was taken by 
the Duke of Alengon. But, for the occasion, 
the five vacant places were filled by the 
Count of Clermont, the Count of Vendome, 
the two Lavals, and La Tremoille. The 
Seigneur d'Albret, acting as Constable, bore 
the royal sword. The six spiritual peers 
of France were the Archbishop of Eheims, and 
the Bishops of Chalons, Laon, Soissons, Beau- 
vais, and Noyon. The last two were Anglo- 
Burgundians. The Bishop of Soissons re- 
turned to his allegiance after the coronation. 
Of the peers, the Archbishop of Rheims and 



186 THE CEOWNING 

the Bishops of Chalons and Laon, were present ; 
and the places of the absentees were taken by 
the Bishops of Seez, Orleans (Mgr. Kirk- 
michael) and Troyes. The Duke d'Alengon 
knighted the king ; and when the crown was set 
on his head, by the Archbishop, the sounding of 
the trumpets and the thunderous cheers of the 
people were, say the eye-witnesses, such as al- 
most to rend the cathedral roof. Then Joan, 
in a flood of hot tears (says Cousinot), knelt 
down and embraced the king's knees and kissed 
his foot. ''Now, gentle king," she said, "is 
the will of Grod accomplished, who wished you 
to be crowned as the lawful king of the realm of 
France." So full of simplicity, joy, and affec- 
tion was her manner, that all who were present 
were moved to tenderness. De Rais, one of the 
Lavals, and La Tremoille were made counts — 
the last, of Sully ; and many were made knights 
either by the king, or by d'Alengon and Bour- 
bon. The noblest Frenchman of them all, or 
one of the noblest, Dunois was, soldier fashion, 
made Count of Longueville, in the English pos- 
session of Normandy. He was, moreover, to 
be count of whatever else he could get in that 
disputed province, which he recovered later for 
France. 

Three Angevins, subjects of Queen Marie of 
Anjou, writing from Rheims to her and her 
mother Queen Yolande after the crowning, say 
that the ambassadors of the Duke of Burgundy 
arrived on the 16th, and that it was hoped that 



THE CROWNING 187 

a peace had been concluded between the duke 
and King 'Charles. This hope was illusive. 

Thus in three months, by marvelous deeds, 
did the Maid bring her king to his coronation. 
It was only six months since she left Domremy ; 
but her fame, meanwhile, had become world- 
wide. Her father came to see her at Rheims as 
she entered the city, July 16th; and seems to 
have remained until September 5th. It is pos- 
sible that he was with her in the campaign 
which followed the coronation. We can imag- 
ine their conversation about Domremy and 
Greux ; and perhaps it was her father who sug- 
gested her request to King Charles to exempt 
the two villages from taxation — a favor granted 
on July 31st. The king gave Joan's father a 
present of sixty French pounds; and the city 
of Rheims paid his expenses. It is possible 
that her '^ Uncle" Laxart, her first faithful 
friend in her enterprise, was present, too, at 
Rheims; for he says himself he recounted all 
Joan's life to the king, without mentioning, 
however, the place of his interview. 



CHAPTER XIX 

AFTEB THE COKONATION" 

Section 1. — Duplicity and Treason 

THE movement of the royal troops after the 
coronation has been variously styled the 
campaign of the He de France, the campaign of 
dupes, or of stupidity ; but better, in all proba- 
bility, the campaign of traitors. The glamor 
of victory, the glory of the crowning, hid for a 
while the baseness of what has been called the 
inner council of Charles VII. The inner coun- 
cil was La Tremoille. Regnault de Chartres, the 
court archbishop, figures in it, it is true. But 
the statement that he was a creature of La 
Tremoille is not without foundation ; for he was 
made definitely Chancellor of France the year 
before Joan's campaigns began; and we may be 
sure that, if he were not chosen by the favorite, 
he was not chosen without his approval. Both, 
moreover, entertained a very good understand- 
ing, one with the other. There were some royal 
captains, too, who opposed Joan. Whoever 
they were they obeyed La Tremoille. How- 
ever we may explain this man's influence with 
the king, the latter gains little credit by the 

188 



APTER THE CORONATIOlSr 189 

campaign after the coronation. He was not a 
soldier, it is clear enough ; neither had he the 
courage, faith, or common-sense to follow the 
Maid, and save his people from their ruthless 
foes. We are rudely shocked to find that 
Charles VII wished to retreat, began, in fact, 
the retreat of his army, at the first sight of the 
English troops, or at the first rumor of their 
advance ; and to find furthermore, that he could 
not see through the self-seeking falsehoods 
and measureless duplicity of the archtraitor, 
Philip the Oood, Duke of Burgundy. This 
man, who was the chief cause of the indescrib- 
able woes of France; and without whom, as 
Bedford acknowledged, neither Paris, nor any 
other portion of France, would remain in Eng- 
lish hands, was endeavoring to make his vast 
possessions an independent, or almost inde- 
pendent, state. His hatred of the French cause 
seemed implacable, even after the death of his 
sister, Bedford's wife. Great was his joy when 
his soldiers captured the pure-hearted patriot, 
Joan of Arc; and shameless beyond time and 
measure his base sale of her blood to the Eng- 
lish invader of his country. 

Burgundy had gone to Paris in the first days 
of July to meet Bedford, and to fan the hatred 
of the Parisian mob against their lawful sover- 
eign. On the 10th, the citizens renewed their 
traitorous oath to the English regent. Mean- 
while he sent ambassadors to propose peace, or 
at least an armistice, to Charles VII at Rheims. 



190 AFTEE THE COEONATION 

His object was to gain time for the English re- 
cruits to arrive, and to gather his own army to 
help them. He basely deceived the Duke of 
Savoy hj inducing him to propose terms of 
peace to the king of France. The inner council 
of Charles VII made a disastrous truce of two 
weeks with Burgundy's ambassadors after the 
coronation at Rheims ; and this act of political 
chicanery wasted the precious days of the vic- 
torious and enthusiastic army. In this agree- 
ment, Burgundy lyingly promised to deliver up 
Paris to King Charles in fifteen days. The 
grossness of the deceit soon became apparent; 
yet the truce was renewed, and for a long pe- 
riod, at Compiegne on Augu'st 28th. By this 
the campaign of Charles was paralyzed; and 
Burgundy was allowed to defend Paris against 
the king of France, and — what was worse — 
against Joan of Arc. What wonder she failed! 
She could not make victorious a man who would 
not accept victory even from Heaven. The 
duped and faint-hearted king forbade Joan to 
attack the capital; and had her dragged away, 
and ran away himself to the Loire ! The clever 
politician Bedford availed himself to the utmost 
of the stupidity of Charles VII, of the treason 
of his council, and of the ambition and duplic- 
ity of Burgundy. So he astutely made the lat- 
ter, during the truce, his lieutenant in Paris and 
He de France, both weakly held and thus 
retained. 



AFTER THE COEONATION 191 

Section 2. — ^Advance and Retreat 

Joan wished to advance rapidly on Paris im- 
mediately after the crowning ; and so it seemed 
to be decided. The Angevin Letter, referred to 
before, said the king would leave Rheims on 
the 18th of July. He did not leave, however, 
until the 21st, while Cardinal Beaufort was 
marching from Calais with his crusaders. The 
two weeks' truce gave Burgundy time to meet 
him, and gather an army. Joan, in her testi- 
mony at Rouen, speaks of her interview with 
the ambassadors at Rheims. She desired peace 
with Burgundy, she told them; but the English 
did not want peace; it would be obtained only 
at the point of the lance. It was these ambas- 
sadors, probably, who took her letter to the 
Duke of Burgundy ; she knew how important it 
was to detach him from the English alliance. 
In her letter she exhorts him to make peace; 
she prayed and humbly supplicated a French 
prince not to make war on his country ; let him 
know, however, for his good, that if he does, he 
will never gain a single battle. She had writ- 
ten to him, she says, three weeks before, invit- 
ing him to the coronation ; but Philip the Good 
returned no answer to either letter. 

From Rheims, Charles VII, following the cus- 
tom of his predecessors after their coronation, 
made a pilgrimage to a saint of royal blood, St. 
Marcoul, at Corbigny, six leagues north of 
Rheims. St. Marcoul was invoked for the cure 



192 AFTER THE COEONATION 

of kings' evil (scrofula) ; and it was believed 
that he communicated his power to the kings as 
they visited his tomb. From Corbigny, 
Charles turned west, some twenty-five miles, 
to the little fortified town of Vailly, a posses- 
sion of the Archbishop, four leagues from Sois- 
sons, farther west, and the same from Laon, 
which was to the north. The army remained 
here one whole day. Laon sent in its keys 
gladly to the king. So did Soissons, however 
ravaged by the Armagnacs in the days of 
Charles VI, 1414. The horrible sacrileges and 
cruelties of the sack were believed to have been 
avenged on the 'fatal day of Agincourt. With 
all its poverty, the city received the king as fit- 
tingly as possible on July 23rd. The royal army 
had now entered that ancient division of the 
country called the Isle of France ; so called be- 
cause mostly, and perhaps at one time entirely 
inclosed by the four rivers, the Aisne, Oise, 
Seine, and Marne. It corresponds with the 
modern departments of Oise, Seine, Seine et 
Oise, and parts of Seine et Marne, Eure et 
Loire, and Aisne. Here were the towns of 
Laon, Soissons, Compiegne, Senlis, Chateau- 
Thierry, Meaux, Paris, Provins, etc. 

Charles remained three days at Soissons, 
while the five thousand Englishmen under Car- 
dinal Beaufort and his nephew Bedford entered 
Paris on the 25th. To Soissons came the news 
of the submission of Chateau-Thierry, Provins, 
Coulommiers, Crecy-en-Brie, and many other 



AFTEE THE CORONATIOlSr 193 

places. All cities and towns between Rheims 
and Paris had opened their gates. It was a 
thousand pities that Paris was not taken, as it 
undoubtedly could have been taken by a quick 
direct blow immediately after the coronation. 
It was weakly defended, with the fortifications 
in bad condition. The English were detested, 
and the Burgundians not loved, whereas King 
Charles had many ardent partisans within the 
walls. 

The royal army, instead of striking straight 
along the Marne to Paris, had gone up north- 
west, and at Soissons was at a distance of sixty 
miles from the capital. Now it turned sense- 
lessly due south to Chateau-Thierry on the 
Marne, avoiding Paris. Here the army re- 
mained all day drawn up in order of battle ex- 
pecting an attack from the English. But Bed- 
ford came not; he probably thought, probably 
knew, that there was no need of fighting. On 
the evening of that day, July 29th, Chateau- 
Thierry was needlessly occupied by the royal 
army. After two days the march was resumed, 
going southeast to Montmirail, on the first of 
August. Thence southwest to Provins, where 
there was a pause of two or three days. The 
slow, erratic, cowardly march kept Joan and her 
inspired army always at a safe distance from 
Paris — about fifty miles away. 

The king was clearly giving up the campaign ; 
and the faithful towns, which had just thrown 
off the Anglo-Burgundian yoke, were becom- 



194 AFTER THE COEONATION 

ing terror-stricken. They sent piteous mes- 
sage after message. Rheims was particularly 
alarmed; for Burgundy kept partisans here 
for a year after the coronation, and was labor- 
ing hard to get possession of the city. One of 
the touching letters of Joan is an encouraging 
answer to the appeal of the citizens. It is 
dated August 5th, ''from the fields, on the way 
to Paris." "My dear and good friends," she 
writes, "good and loyal French people of 
Rheims, doubt not in the royal cause. I will 
never abandon you as long as I live." Bur- 
gundy, she continued, had obtained a truce, and 
promised to deliver up Paris in fifteen days ; 
therefore, they must not be surprised if she did 
not enter it so soon. The truce pleased her 
not, and she was not quite determined to keep 
it. If she did, it was only to save the king's 
word — she evidently saw through the treason. 
She would keep, however, she said, the royal 
army together for the fifteen days. La Tre- 
moille and his party, including his relatives, fat- 
tening on the profits of the two camps, feared 
the army, and wished to dissolve it. It was 
becoming dangerous to the position of this low- 
lived creature. A few days later we hear of 
Joan being heart-sick, no doubt, wishing she 
could be buried with the good people of Crepy- 
en-Valois, and wishing that Heaven would al- 
low her to return to her lowly home and watch 
her father's sheep in Domremy. But this was 
only a passing wish. Her superhuman loyalty 



AFTEE THE CORONATION 195 

never failed; not even ingratitude, opposition, 
rejection, and treason, could shake her determi- 
nation to save France. Paris must be taken, 
and the English driven out of the country. 
This was her mission, and she was determined 
to accomplish it. It was, very probably, some 
sorrowful word like the above, escaping from 
her heart ; or her word to the king as she knelt 
before him at Rheims ; or, perhaps, the frustra- 
tion of her mission by her king and his council, 
that gave Dunois the impression that she did 
not speak definitely of any other mission of 
Heaven save the deliverance of Orleans and 
the crowning of the king. After this, she 
seemed to fail, English courage revived, the war 
and the woes of France continued for twenty 
years. The condition of the recovered prov- 
inces and towns near the Anglo-Burgundian 
border became pitiable. They were trodden by 
both armies ; for the truces were not respected, 
nor did they include the English, who were 
constantly assisted by the Burgundians one way 
or another. 

While the craven council held the army at 
Provins, and other places, the fame of Joan was 
hardly diminished. She summoned fortress 
after fortress, and was obeyed. She used to 
leave the main body of the troops, to win alle- 
giance to the king along the route. French offi- 
cers were put in charge, and the recovered 
places were never lost. 

Meanwhile the skillful statesman and soldier. 



196 ATTER THE CORONATION 

the Duke of Bedford, saw that a strong demon- 
stration against the French would probably 
frighten them, discourage the loyal towns, dis- 
credit Joan of Arc, and gain much credit for 
the English cause. He issued from Paris with 
ten thousand men, and marched to Melun, about 
forty miles west of Provins. But that was 
quite enough; he knew that his work was be- 
ing done better and more safely for him by the 
French themselves ; and so he returned to Paris. 
Some of the king's company, says Cousinot, 
wished to return to the Loire; and the king, 
also, wished it very much. So arrangements 
were made to march due south, and cross the 
Seine at Bray. The English, as if sure of vic- 
tory, occupied Bray overnight and captured or 
slew the first Frenchmen who came to the 
bridge, and then broke it down. The French 
Army did not venture to cross ; but turned val- 
iantly back — ito the great joy of d'Alengon, de 
Bourbon, Rene de Bar, Laval, Vendome, and 
their brave comrades, and, most of all, of Joan 
of Arc. 



CHAPTER XX 

TO PARIS ! 

Section 1. — Advancing to Battle. Joan's Posi- 
tion. Joy of the People 

JOAN testified at Rouen, that, from the first 
days of August, the direction of the cam- 
"paign was taken out of her hands; she had to 
follow the captains. ''Henceforward," says 
the Chanoine Debout, "the vilest political chi- 
canery hinders and seeks to annul her work." 
Mr. Andrew Lang, a careful student of the 
Maid's career, is not far from the truth when 
he affirms as an irrefutable statement, that 
the ''inner council" of Charles VII deliberately 
sacrificed Joan of Arc to the Duke of Burgundy. 
Her success and the fulfillment of her predic- 
tions were made impossible by the nefarious re- 
fusal of the chiefs of the country to co-operate 
with her, or avail themselves of her services. 

On August 5th, the French Army turned back 
from Provins northwest to Coulommiers, which 
it reached on August 7th; thence northeast to 
Chateau-Thierry again, where there was a halt 
made for two days, the 9th and 10th. 

In those days an insulting letter (dated 

197 



198 TO Paris! 

August 7th) was sent by ''John of Lancaster, 
Regent, and Duke of Bedford, to Charles of Va- 
lois, who was accustomed to be called the Dau- 
phin of Vienne, who is unjustly contriving new 
enterprises against the crown and lordship of 
the most high and excellent prince, and Bed- 
ford's sovereign lord, Henry, by the grace of 
God, true, natural, and lawful, king of France 
and England." He accused Charles VII of 
the most infamous conduct, particularly for 
having in his train a disorderly woman dressed 
as a man, a superstitious seducer of the people 
who was abominable according to the Scrip- 
tures. He challenged Charles to battle any- 
where he pleased ; although a few days later he 
took good care to decline it, and marched safe-ly 
back to Paris. 

The French Army went forward northwest, 
through La Ferte, and arrived on the 11th at 
Crepy-en-Valois. Here the joy of the people 
was extraordinary. They uttered loud shouts, 
and wept with gladness, and came in procession 
singing the Te Deum to meet the king. Joan 
was greatly moved, and wished to be buried in 
the midst of the warm-hearted people. The ad- 
vance of the French Army aroused the Duke of 
Bedford, and he left Paris at the head of his 
troops, moving northeast toward Mitry-en- 
France, below Dammartin. He took up a 
strong position, which French outposts, under 
Etienne de Vignoles (La Hire), "a valiant man- 
at-arms," were sent to reconnoiter. The Eng- 



TO PAEIS! 199 

lish showed no desire to move, while their posi- 
tion seemed too strong to be attacked. Night 
came ; and next day Bedford withdrew, and the 
French returned toward Crepy. 

Section 2. — A Drawn Battle 

On August 14th the French Army advanced 
southwest towards Senlis, and stopped two 
leagues from there at the village of Baron. 
Here came on the 15th news that the Anglo- 
Burgundians were approaching on the opposite 
side of Senlis. Ambrose de Lore and Xain- 
trailles were ordered to mount and reconnoiter. 
They departed immediately ; and riding quickly, 
saw on the highway of Senlis great clouds of 
dust arising. They dispatched a courier rap- 
idly to the king, while they still went on nearer, 
and dispatched another messenger. The royal 
army then began to form in the open fields. It 
was the feast of the Assumption; and that 
morning at dawn, Joan, d'Alengon, and their 
troops, "put themselves in the best state of 
conscience they could." When Mass was said, 
they mounted their horses. At Vesper hour 
Bedford's host, not far from Senlis, began to 
cross the stream at a point so narrow that only 
two horsemen could ride abreast. Then de 
Lore and Xaintrailles rode swiftly back, and 
the French approached to attack the English 
while crossing. But they were already over. 
Skirmishes began, "and there were many fair 
passes of arms." 'Twas near sunset. The 



200 TO PARIS ! 

English host remained in its position, the river 
and a marshy pond on their rear, and thick 
thorny hedges on the flanks. All night they 
continued to work at their defenses, setting 
their stockade, forming a barricade of wagons, 
digging trenches and forming breastworks. 
The English formed one compact body, the 
archers in front under Bedford and his nobles. 
Behind these were the Picards on the right, the 
English on the left, the two banners of France 
and England being displayed. There were 
some eight hundred Burgundians; and one of 
these, Jean de Villiers, carried the standard of 
St. George. Before the battle, the Duke of 
Bedford knighted the Bastard of St. Pol ; and 
many other Burgundians received -a similar 
honor from other noblemen. 

On the morning of the 16th the French dis- 
posed their battle line. The main body was 
under d'Alengon and Vendome. Rene de Bar 
commanded a second corps; while a third di- 
vision, in form of a wing, was under the com- 
mand of the marshals, de Rais and de Boussac. 
A strong body of skirmishers, thrown forward, 
was led by Dunois, d'Albret, and Joan. De 
Graville had the archers. The king was near 
the army, with de Bourbon, La Tremoille, and 
a numerous band of knights and squires. 
There was hard skirmishing all day, but it was 
impossible to draw the English from their 
strong position. Seeing which, the Maid, with 



TO Paris! 201 

the vanguard, advanced standard in hand, so 
near that she struck the English fortifications. 
A herald was sent to say that the French 
would draw back, and give their foes room to 
choose their ground. But the English would not 
move. Toward evening a large number of 
Frenchmen joined together and advanced to the 
Anglo-Burgundian front. The skirmishing 
grew fiercer, clouds of dust rendering undis- 
tinguishable friend and foe. Monstrelet says 
no quarter was given, and that there were 
counted about three hundred slain. At last, as 
night fell, the French withdrew to their camp, 
their king to Crepy. The Maid, d 'Alen§on, and 
their soldiers remained, we are told, all night 
on the field ; and, in the early morning, retired 
toward Montepilloy, where they remained till 
noon, at which hour it was evident that the Eng- 
lish had definitely retired. 

There was an amusing incident of this battle 
when Sire de La Tremoille, well fed, expen- 
sively groomed, and mounted on a fat charger, 
made up his mind to take part in the affray. 
They gave him a lance, and he actually ad- 
vanced to within striking distance. Here, at 
the beginning of dantger, his horse fell, and the 
warrior would have been killed or held for ran- 
som, if he had not been promptly rescued, a 
thing accomplished, we are told, with much diffi- 
culty, more, in fact, than it was worth. 



202 TO PAEIS! 



Section 3. — Further Successes and Vain Nego- 
tiations 

The day after the encounter at Montepilloy, 
the strong city of Compiegne, to the north, on 
the Oise, sent in its keys. Before going thither, 
the king sent the two marshals, de Rais and de 
Boussac with their troops, to summon Senlis to 
surrender, which it did ; and Count de Vendome 
was put in charge. Town after town, territory 
after territory, was offering allegiance, Joan 
being '^ greatly diligent" on the march to re- 
duce them to su*bmission. Valois, North Brie, 
the north of He de France, with Beauvais city 
and territory, soon after hoisted the French 
flag ; while the army was about to enter Picardy, 
now waiting for King Charles. From Beau- 
vais was driven out its incumbent, Bishop Cau- 
choji, ''an extreme Englishman {Anglais ex- 
treme). ^^ 

The condition of the country was becoming 
dangerous for the haughty Duke of Burgundy. 
Monstrelet, the Burgundian historian, shows 
how near Duke Philip was to conclude a truce at 
Arras about the middle of August, while the 
royal army, taking city after city, was about to 
expel the invader, and impose its conditions on 
the rebel duke. From Arras the negotiations 
were continued at Compiegne, and here con- 
cluded on the 28th of August, when Joan had 
already left for Paris. Regnault de Chartres, 
the Chancellor, actually tried to hand over Com- 



TO PAEIS! 203 

piegne to Burgundy; but the people stead- 
fastly refused to be betrayed. The governor- 
ship of the place was claimed and obtained by 
La Tremoille, and handed over to Guillaume 
Flavy, as his lieutenant. Flavy was a creature 
of the Chancellor Archbishop. From the con- 
clusion of the truce Charles VII recognized the 
Duke of Burgundy as actual governor of Paris, 
and did not wish that he should be attacked. 

Section 4. — Joan Leaves Compiegne. Message 
of Count d'Armagnac 

King Charles was at -Compiegne on the 18th 
of August. Here it appeared, says de Cagny, 
who was a captain under Alencon, that he was 
satisfied with the favor Heaven had shown him, 
and did not wish to go any farther. Here, in 
effect, he made the fatal truce with Burgundy, 
which was to last until Christmas, but was pro- 
longed until Easter. It seems to have been 
kept secret for the moment. 

Joan was heart-sick at the king's delay; and, 
as at Gien, she resolved to go before him, like 
an eagle alluring its young to fly. She called 
AlenQon, saying, ''Fair duke, get your soldiers 
ready with those of the other captains ; for, by 
my staff, I wish to get a nearer view of Paris 
than I have had. ' ' As the exultant troops were 
about to march, and Joan was getting into the 
saddle, a messenger came from Count d'Ar- 
magnac, to ask her which of the three claimants 
of the Papacy he should follow. ''I'll tell him 



204 TO PABIS! , 

after Paris," she said — not quite so curtly, for 
she would not offend him. She would ask, she 
said, her Lord when she had more time to re- 
flect. For her own part, she affirmed she would 
obey the Pope who was at Rome. How often 
she appealed to him in her hour of sorrow ! 

Speaking of this incident, Joan said the mes- 
senger would have been thrown into the water if 
he had not promptly gotten away. ''Not by 
me, ' ' she added ; but, no doubt, by her soldiers, 
who were annoyed by the delay. Perhaps they 
knew Count Jean d'Armagnac! Jean, brother- 
in-law of the Duke of Orleans, was the son of 
Count Bernard, who had formed the Armagnac 
party to avenge the House of Orleans against 
that of Burgundy. Count Jean had abandoned 
the legitimate Pope, Martin V; and with King 
Alfonso of Arragon became a fanatical fol- 
lower of the Antipope, Benedict XIII. He sus- 
tained also his intruded successor, the so-called 
Clement VIII. Pope Martin V had excommun- 
icated d'Armagnac, freed his subjects from alle- 
giance to him, and gave his territory to the king. 
Alfonso abandoned the antipope, and the latter 
resigned his claims soon after the coronation of 
Charles VII. Armagnac 's letter was just to 
cover his plight and serve as an excuse for his 
return to the Pope. He soon submitted. Joan 
declared under oath at her trial that she never 
had given any instruction or advice regarding 
the rival claimants of the Papacy. 



TO Paris! 205 



Section 5. — Joan Marches 

On Tuesday, August 23rd, she left Compiegne 
with ''a fair company'^ and full of ardor, for 
the capital seemed about to fall, and even Nor- 
mandy was ready to fall into their hands — at 
least so thought the Duke of Bedford. 

On the way they picked up a part of the 
troops sent to take Senlis ; and on the following 
Friday, the 26th of the month, AleuQon and his 
company were lodged in the town of St. Denis, 
five miles north of Paris. This had been the 
burial place of the kings of France from the 
days of Dagobert. King Charles, learning that 
Joan, d'Alengon, and their soldiers were in St. 
Denis, *'came, to his great regret, to the city of 
Senlis ; it appeared he had received counsel in 
a contrary sense to the will of the Maid, Alen- 
§on, and their band." So wrote de Cagny. 
About the same time Bedford left Paris for 
Normandy, so great seemed the danger that this 
province would fall into the hands of the 
French. He put over Paris Louis de Luxem- 
bourg, Bishop of Therouanne, self-styled Chan- 
cellor of France for the English, with an Eng- 
lish knight, and Simon Morhier, who called him- 
self provost of the city. An English guard of 
only two thousand men, it is said, remained for 
its defense. Then King Charles, at the end of 
August, moved to St. Denis, and victory seemed 
to smile on the banner of France. 



CHAPTER XXI 



THE FIGHT FOR PARIS 



ARRIVED at St. Denis, the Maid and d'Alen- 
§on stationed their troops in the neigh- 
boring villages ; Monstrelet mentions Aubervil- 
liers and Montmartre. Immediately, '* great" 
skirmishing, says Oousinot, began around the 
walls. It was continued every day; and, some- 
times, two or three times a day. Joan took 
much fearless pleasure in reconnoitering the 
city, usually with d^Alengon, to see where an 
attack could be made. She must have realized 
well her chances of success ; for she was far too 
sharp a soldier to risk a forlorn hope. A 
bridge was built across the Seine on the western 
side, giving access to St. Germain, etc. In 
these days, Joan took the castles of Bethemont 
and Montjoie, and perhaps other places. No 
one in the city ventured outside the gates ex- 
cept the skirmishers. 

The whole army was needed for the attack; 
and so d'Alengon went to Senlis on September 
1st to urge the king to come. He promised to 
follow next day; but failed; and on the 5th 
d'Alengon went again, and succeeded in bring- 
ing his Majesty to St. Denis — ''to dine." 

206 



THE FIGHT FOE PARIS 207 

Meanwhile ' ' all, of every condition, ' ' were say- 
ing, ' ' she will put the king in Paris, if he does 
not prevent her." The Maid had determined 
to attack the gate of St. Honore, on the west, or 
rather northwest, of the city. A little to the 
north of it was an eminence, later called the 
Butte or Knoll of St. Roch. To this, from its 
rallying point at La Chapelle, midway between 
St. Denis and the city, the army moved at eight 
o'clock, on the morning of the feast of the Na- 
tivity of Our Lady, September 8th. They had 
already performed the religious duties of the 
day, as we may understand from the words of 
Joan at Rouen. And when some one, perhaps 
not over-zealous, reminded her of the feast, she 
laconically said, ''All days are good for battle." 
It appears from the chronicles, that the army 
was well provided with all required to storm the 
city — wagons of faggots to fill the moats, six 
hundred and seventy ladders, etc. At the knoll, 
and protected by it from the cannon of the city, 
remained one division under d'Alengon, as a 
guard against a surprise attack on the rear 
from the St. Denis gate, on the north of the city. 
The party destined for the assault, composed, 
it seems, of volunteers, were led by the Maid, de 
Rais, and de Gaucourt. It was near midday, 
when some advanced barriers were fired, and 
the Parisians were driven into the city, prob- 
ably causing the panic which drove the citizens 
to the churches, or caused them to shut them- 
selves up in their houses. The assault, begin- 



208 THE FIGHT FOE PAEIS 

ning quickly after, was "fierce and long," all 
admit; and the Parisian cannon well served 
and effective. The boulevard, or breastwork, 
before the gate, was soon taken ; and the Maid, 
carrying her banner, descended amongst the 
first into the outer moat, which was dry. Here 
she seems to have been accompanied and fol- 
lowed by many combatants. Instantly she 
sprang on the mound or wall between the outer 
and inner moat ; and here, as it seems, alone, or 
accompanied only by her standard-bearer, she 
coolly endeavored, for a considerable time, to 
fathom the water at various points, under a 
hail of bolts and arrows. She urged the sol- 
diers to fill up the moat; but she was poorly 
seconded. Her standard-bearer was now shot 
through the foot, and as he opened his visor to 
see or staunch the wound, he was shot between 
the eyes, to the immense grief of the heroine. 
Sunset had come, when the Maid, still urging on 
her soldiers, was shot in the thigh by a bolt, 
aimed at her with gross insult from the walls. 
She stood her ground, and called her country- 
men to the assault. The men were wearied 
with the long, fierce, and profitless battle; and 
de Oaucourt and others took the unwilling Maid 
away. They put her on a horse, and she re- 
turned to La Chapelle, bitterly protesting that 
the city could have been taken. Here the sol- 
diers, more bitter than Joan, spoke openly of 
the cowardice of the king, saying that he did 



THE FIGHT FOK PARIS 209 

not wish to take the city. How had they no- 
ticed it? And why was not Joan informed 
about the moat? And why did the soldiers 
hold back? There were very many present at 
the attack, or near it, who had arranged the 
fool's or traitor's truce, with the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, a few days before. They bore exalted 
names — the Chancellor Archbishop, Regnault 
de Chartres, the Bishop of Seez, Eene, Duke of 
Bar, Counts Clermont and Vendome, d'Albret, 
La Tremoille, d'Harcourt, de Treves, de Gau- 
court. ''Some who were with her at the as- 
sault," says Cousinot, ''would be glad if evil be- 
fell Joan." "If well conducted, the attack 
would have succeeded, ' ' testifies the Journal du 
Siege. "La Tremoille called the soldiers back 
from Paris," writes the Herald of Berri. 
"The captains did not agree; some councilors 
of the king recalled the troops," the Chronicle 
of Tournay affirms. The notary, Pierre Co- 
chon (not the bishop), states that Joan's sol- 
diers were on the point of gaining the ramparts 
— they had only to set the ladders, when they 
were hindered by La Tremoille. 

Joan said at Kouen that she was asked by 
the captains to make a demonstration, or feint 
on the city — perhaps they and she expected a 
surrender, through love or fear; but she her- 
self determined to storm Paris. So did Alen- 
Qon and the daring spirits that understood her. 
The king had already determined to retreat, 



210 THE FIGHT FOE PARIS 

hence his hesitation. The men who made the 
truce were evidently not of Joan's way of think- 
ing. 

She was probably told, as they led her away 
in the gloom of night, that there would be an 
attack next day; and so the means and ma- 
terial of war remained under the walls, or near. 
Next morning, she arose early, though wounded 
— the wound healed in five days — and begged 
Alencon to sound the trumpets, and return to 
the assault, affirming she would never leave the 
city unconquered. The ''Fair Duke" and 
some captains were willing to go with her. 
And while they were speaking, there came out 
from the city the Baron de Montmorency with 
fifty or sixty gentlemen to join the Maid. But 
Eene de Bar and Count Clermont came from 
the king, to forbid an attack, and with order 
to bring Joan with them. As the company 
went back, the hardier spirits, Joan, Alengon, 
and some others, entertained the hope, that, on 
the following day, the 10th, they could attack 
the city from the other side, by means of the 
bridge which they had constructed. Hearing of 
the project, the ''gentle Dauphin," Charles VII, 
had men labor all night to take the bridge apart, 
and so kill the last hope of victory. 

Joan's Voices had been silent, leaving the as- 
sault on Paris to her own initiative — they could 
not tell her to lead soldiers against the com- 
mand of the king, however much a fool. Sub- 
sequently, they encouraged her to stay at St. 



THE FIGHT FOR PARIS 211 

Denis — in hope, no doubt, of winning yet. But, 
finally, they gave her advice to depart. Sadly 
she hung up her white armor as a votive offer- 
ing at the shrine of St. Denis, for his name, she 
said, was the battle cry of France. Soon the 
English came, and took it as a trophy to Paris. 
Failure meant that God was no longer leader 
of the royal host ; and Joan's unparalleled pres- 
tige had lost its magic. She knew better than 
all others what the check at Paris meant, as she 
knew best what the victory would mean ; hence 
she persistently refused to retreat from the 
walls. Through the long twilight of eighteen 
more months must she go before she stands in 
the shameful splendor of the pyre at Rouen. 



OHAPTEE XXII 

THE GREAT KETEEAT AlsTD AFTER 

Section 1. — The Retreat 

BEFORE starting -on Ms hasty retreat, King 
Charlesr wrote ^t-o "his good towns" in the 
neighborhood, that he did not wish to overbur- 
den them with the presence of his army, but that 
he had determined to retire to the Loire, with- 
out, however, renouncing the design of coming 
back. He put Count Clermont in charge of the 
Isle-de-France and the Beauvais territory. 
The Count, however, seeing the devastation of 
the country by both armies, resigned. The 
French soldiers, left to defend the faithful ter- 
ritory, being unpaid, got out of hand, and com- 
mitted nameless depredation on their own peo- 
ple. 

The chronicler Cousinot seems to lay stress 
on Charles' royal leisureliness. He began his 
retreat *' after dinner" at St. Denis, on Sep- 
tember 13th; and, at the end of it, "went to 
dinner" at Grien, on Wednesday, the 21st. It 
was a rapid march, and is said to'have been dis- 
orderly — southeast to Provins, south to near 
Sens, southwest to Chateau-Eenard, nearly 

212 



THE GREAT RETREAT AND AFTER 213 

west to Montargis, nearly south to Gien on the 
Loire. Joan, "to her great regret," went in 
the royal train. With what indignation she 
must have entered Gien, whence she had begun 
her triumphal march to Eheims on June 29th! 
*'So were broken," writes the soldier de 
Cagny, ''the desires of the Maid; and so was 
disbanded the army of the king." The most 
enthusiastic army France had ever seen was 
dissolved inunediately. But the patriotic Maid, 
though grieving over the renouncement of vic- 
tory, and over the avoidable sufferings of the 
people, was by no means broken in spirit ; nor 
did she cease to be an object of reverence and 
a source of inspiration to the people. She 
knew she had a mission from Heaven ; and that, 
whether by her or others, it would be accom- 
plished. 

Section 2. — Joan Parted from Alengon. Sub- 
sequent Movements 

D'Alengon was too much of a soldier either to 
remain at the idle, inglorious court, or to be al- 
lowed the title of commander-in-chief, when the 
army, as a matter of fact, was non-existent. 
In his place we shall, henceforth, find the Sire 
d'Albret, the half brother of La Tremoille, and 
one of those who had arranged the Burgundian 
truce. D'Alen§on went to his possession of 
Beaumont, where his wife and mother awaited 
him; and we shall no more find the brave and 
noble soldier battling with Joan. 



214 THE GEEAT RETREAT AND AFTER 

Very likely under the inspiration of Joan, he 
resolved to do something, if possible, with the 
troops which had followed him, before they 
had utterly disappeared. Normandy was the 
chief seat of English power, where the invader 
had endeavored to establish himself securely. 
Its nearness to the sea made it easy of ap- 
proach. But the province had been devastated 
in the most fearful manner; and many there 
were who would welcome a French Army. 
Guerrillas, or robbers, were numerous; and 
were savagely sacrificed by the English when 
caught. So little secure was Normandy, that 
the Duke of Bedford left Paris, to prevent its 
revolt or occupation. Alengon determined to 
invade Normandy, and requested that the Maid 
might accompany him; urging that multitudes 
would flock to her standard who would not oth- 
erwise move. ''But Eegnault de Chartres (the 
Chancellor Archbishop), Sire de la Tremoille, 
and Sire de Gaucourt, who at that time gov- 
erned the person of the king, refused abso- 
lutely." No wonder the "fair Duke" nursed 
a bitter grudge in his heart. 

The king then "passed his time in Touraine, 
Poitou, and Berri," all loyal provinces, secure 
below the Loire. Joan was with him, appar- 
ently handed over to the guardianship of La 
Tremoille. She was courteously treated; the 
court was grateful for what she had done. To 
all appearances, it was quite content with what 
it had itself done, and intended to do no more. 



THE GREAT RETREAT AND AFTER 215 

From Gien she wrote to encourage the people 
of Troyes, and gave them news of herself, par- 
ticularly of her wound at Paris. We find her 
at Sully on September 26th, and at Selles on 
October 1st — two abodes of the favorite. 

Section 3. — Joan at Bourges 

On the 3rd of October, Joan went to Bourges, 
and was lodged by d'Albret in the house of a 
great lady of the court, Marguerite de la Tour- 
oulde, wife of Regnier de Bouligny, chief finan- 
cier, or treasurer, of Charles VII, in the first 
twenty-five years of his reign. This "upright 
and prudent" woman testified at the age of 
sixty-four as to what she knew of the Maid 
while with her. Marguerite had gone with 
Queen Marie to meet the king at Selles; and 
Joan lived with her most intimately for three 
weeks. They talked much together, and their 
chief work seems to have been the performance 
of exercises of devotion. They went to Mass 
and matins, and Joan went to confession "very 
frequently." Except in matters of war Joan 
seemed to this lady of the court to be entirely 
ignorant — a simple peasant girl of the Meuse 
side. When Marguerite said that Joan could 
never fear to fight since she knew she would not 
be killed in battle, the Maid answered that she 
was exposed to danger as the others, and knew 
no more than they of the time or place of death. 
Many women came to the house to have Joan 
bless or touch rosaries, medals, etc., but Joan 



216 THE GREAT EETEEAT AND AFTER 

laughed, and bade them touch them themselves ; 
it would do just as much good. She was 'Very 
generous in almsgiving, and took the greatest 
pleasure in helping the poor ; for she was sent, 
she said, for them." Dame Marguerite firmly 
believed in Joan, who appeared to her to be 
''innocence itself." We recall the testimony of 
d'Aulon, her equerry, that, though "handsome 
and well-formed," Joan never awakened any 
disorderly thought in the bosom of her "sol- 
dier companions." 

Section 4. — Joan Unmasks Catherine of La 
Rochelle 

Joan had met this adventuress, both before 
and after the siege of La Charite, at Jargeau 
and Montfaucon in Berri. Catherine asserted 
that a white lady in cloth of gold told her to go 
through the "good towns" with heralds from 
the king, demanding gold, silver, concealed 
treasure, to pay Joan's soldiers. The Maid 
told her to go home to her husband and chil- 
dren. Joan's Voices told her that all this wom- 
an's story was sheer folly. This she wrote 
to the king, and afterwards told him by word 
of mouth. She watched one or two nights with 
the pretendress to see the white lady, who for 
the nonce failed to appear. Brother Richard, 
known to us since the siege of Troyes, counte- 
nanced Catherine; and both ceased to be Joan's 
friends. Catherine calumniated the Maid dur- 
ing her trial at Rouen. 



THE GREAT RETREAT AND AFTER 217 



Section 5.^ — The Taking of St. Pierre-le- 
Moustier 

This fortified place was about eighty miles 
southeast of Bourges, and about thirty south of 
La Charite, on the upper Loire, here flowing di- 
rectly northward. La Charite and this place 
were held by two freebooters, nominally, at 
least, for Burgundy. Perrinet Gressart, or 
Grasset, had made La Charite his capital, 
whence he raided the surrounding country. He 
had captured even La Tremoille, as he passed 
to negotiate with Burgundy; and held him for 
ransom. The Maid was not able to expel 
Grasset from his lair, as we shall see. He kept 
it even after the treaty of Arras, by which Bur- 
gundy submitted to his sovereign ; and he finally 
acknowledged Charles VII on conditions very 
favorable to himself. Grasset had no children ; 
so he provided handsomely for his nieces, even 
by noble marriages. One of these, Etiennette, 
of noble birth, was married to Francis de 
Surienne, called the Arragonese, a Spanish ad- 
venturer allied to the house of Borgia. Grasset 
looked upon him as his adopted son, and made 
him his lieutenant in charge of St. Pierre-le- 
Moustier. Joan had driven de Surienne from 
St. Pierre before November 9th; for on that 
day she wrote the news to the city of Moulins. 
D 'Anion, who was present, tells the story of 
the siege. When the place had been invested 
some days, an assault was made and failed, for 



218 THE GKEAT KETREAT AND AFTER 

the town was well defended, and probably 
Joan's little army was none too well provided 
with the means of success. In the repulse 
d 'Anion was, like Achilles, wounded in the heel 
by a bolt, or arrow, and could not stand, but 
moved as best he oould on crutches. He saw 
Joan standing near the wall with a few com- 
panions ; no doubt, her brothers amongst them. 
Fearing danger to her, he got on horseback, and 
went toward her, asking what she was doing, 
and why she had not followed the others. 
Taking off her helmet, Joan said she was not 
alone, but had fifty thousand of her people with 
her. Now, no matter what she said, continues 
d 'Anion, there were with her at the moment 
only four or five soldiers. "I am certain of 
it," he afiirms, "as were others who also saw 
her. I then told her to go back as the others 
had done." But she quickly told him to get 
faggots and hurdles to bridge the moat; and 
called loudly to the soldiers to do so. They 
obeyed instantly. ''I was astonished," adds 
d 'Anion; ''for the town was taken immediately, 
with little difficulty." 

Section 6. — Failure at La Charite 

Joan's Voices neither sanctioned nor forbade 
this campaign on the upper Loire ; they couldn't 
very well. But the Maid herself did not ap- 
prove ; she wished to fight in France proper, as 
it was then known. She simply obeyed the 
king. How much the king and La Tremoille 



THE GREAT RBTEEAT AND AFTER 219 

were interested in the matter appears from the 
fact that Joan had to make most of the prepara- 
tions. She wrote to Moulins, Clermont, Riom, 
and perhaps other places, for supplies. 
Neither supplies nor men were adequate. The 
army seems to have consisted of foreigners, 
who were not paid ; and, what was worse, they 
had not sufficient food. D'Albret, who was 
commander, admits it. Joan might have re- 
fused to move ; but such was not her character. 
Marshal de Boussac joined her. The siege 
dragged on for a month — to mid-December; 
when the Maid, after the loss of a great part of 
her artillery, withdrew. The court showed no 
displeasure; nor had it much reason therefor. 
In fact, the family of Joan was ennobled soon 
after. The campaign was not quite fruitless; 
for Joan captured several other places besides 
St. Pierre. 

Section 7. — The Ennobling of Joan's Family 

The king's letter of ennoblement is dated 
from Meung-sur-Yevre, near Bourges, Decem- 
ber, 1429. It is altogether special in form. 
The king recognizes Joan as an envoy of 
Heaven, and ennobles her rather as an act of 
gratitude to God than as a reward for her in- 
estimable services. Not only is Joan made 
noble, but her parents also, and all the members 
of her family, with their posterity, male and 
female. We find grandnephews of Joan's 
mother claiming and receiving the title of 



220 THE GREAT RBTEEAT AND AFTER 

nobility in virtue of this grant of Charles VII. 
The Maid's brothers took the name of du Lys 
{of the Lily), the badge of the kings of France. 
The arms of the family was an upright sword 
unsheathed on a blue shield, bearing a crown 
on the point, with two golden lilies, one on each 
side. Joan herself had not requested this 
honor; nor did she ever bear any badge save 
that of her own incomparable chivalry. 

Section 8. — Winter and Spring 

Idle and chagrined Joan spent the rest of the 
winter of 1429 and the spring of 1430. She re- 
visited some of the scenes of her prowess. 
She was at Jargeau, it is said, on Christmas 
Day; and on the 19th of January, at Orleans, 
the city which never ceased to love her. 
Heliote, the daughter of the painter of Joan's 
banner, was about to marry in February; so 
Joan asked a gift for her from the city of Tours. 
In March she wrote, or signed^ at Sully, the re- 
markable letter to the Hussites, and two to the 
city of Eheims. The first was, no doubt, com- 
posed in great part, by Paquerel, the Maid's 
confessor, who made a Latin translation of it. 
She refers to the destructive heresies of the 
Hussites and their unspeakable brutalities, 
threatening to abandon the English campaign, 
to go against them, and repay them what they 
had done. On the 16th and 28th of March she 
answered the letters sent to her in their distress 
and danger by the people of Rheims. She 



THE GREAT RETREAT AND AFTER 221 

bade them fear no Burgundian threats; they 
would have no siege; but if there should be 
danger, she would come so quickly to help them 
that their foes would not have time to put on 
their spurs. In the second letter she says they 
will soon hear news enough of her; that is of 
the resumption of her campaign in Ile-de- 
France. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Joan's last campaign 

Section 1.— She Comes to Lagny. Defeat and 
Execution of Franquet d 'Arras 

JOAN, like an eagle nncaged, left the court at 
Sully at the end of March, 1430. She did 
not acquaint the king, nor bid him good-by — a 
significant thing. She gave some pretext of a 
pleasure trip — war for France was her pleasure 
— as she departed with several companions-in- 
arms, including her equerry d'Aulon, and, no 
doubt, her brothers. She went rapidly nearly 
straight north to Lagny, near Paris, lured by 
the rumor of French fights and the steady 
progress of the royal cause. Her old com- 
panion-in-arms, Etienne de Vignoles (La Hire), 
was doing heroic things in Normandy, where he 
had taken the strong town of Louviers and the 
famous castle Gaillard. Another brave com- 
panion of hers, Ambrose de Lore, commander 
at Lagny, stoutly and successfully defended 
this place and St. Celerin against the English. 
Here, too, were Fouoault and Kennedy, and 
"many gallant soldiers," in at least consider- 
able part Scottish. 

222 



joan's last campaign 22-3 

Just as she arrived, a child of three days, 
apparently dead, was brought to the church of 
Our Lady, where the maidens gathered to pray 
for its life. Joan was begged to come. And 
as they prayed the infant gave signs of life, was 
baptized, and died. Joan never said that the 
child was really dead, although it was ''black 
as her shoe." 

It was probably soon after, that the free- 
booting Anglo-Burgundian captain, Franquet 
d 'Arras, began to devastate the Isle-de-France. 
He led a veteran band of four hundred men, in 
part, if not all, English. Promptly Joan took 
the field with about the same number of men, 
Scots and other soldiers of the garrison, under 
Foucault and Kennedy. Having come up with 
the English, who had dismounted and were pro- 
tected by a hedge, Joan's force, horse and foot, 
in good order, at once fell upon them. Nearly 
all the English were slain; and on the French 
side there were also dead and wounded. The 
leader was brought to Lagny; and Joan asked 
to have him exchanged for Jacquet Ouillaume, 
an innkeeper near the gate of Paris at which 
an insurrection against the Anglo-Burgundians 
was to have begun. It was discovered in Pas- 
sion week, and some of the prisoners were 
executed on the eve of Palm Sunday and on the 
following days. Whether Guillaume was one 
of these, or had died in prison, we do not know. 
But the news of his death had come ; and, there- 
upon, the bailiff said that Joan would do great 



224 joan's last campaign 

wrong if she allowed so great a criminal as 
Franquet to escape. He was then handed over 
to the city authorities, who, after a two weeks' 
trial, executed him. He himself confessed that 
he was *'a murderer, a robber, and a traitor." 

Section 2. — The Prediction of Joan's Capture 

About the 20th of April, apparently, Joan 
went directly south, twenty-six miles or so, to 
Melun on the Seine, either to defend it against 
the English, or, possibly, to help to capture its 
island fortress. The Herald of Berri tells the 
story of the expulsion of the Anglo-Burgundian 
garrison. They had gone out to Yevres to steal 
cattle and, therefore, it seems to have been after 
Lent. While they were absent, the towns- 
people closed their gates, and besieged the 
castle, which stood on an island in the Seine. 
While Joan was viewing the fortifications. Saint 
Catherine and Saint Margaret revealed to her 
that she would be taken captive before the feast 
of St. John, June 24th. In point of fact, she 
would be made prisoner a month sooner. They 
told her not to fear, that so it was destined ; but 
God would be with her, and she would do His 
Will. Joan tried to learn from her heavenly 
friends the time and the place ; but they would 
not tell: she must seek only the Divine Will. 
Then she begged, that, when taken, she might 
die promptly, ''without the long torment of im- 
prisonment." Her Saints soothed her, and 
mercifully concealed the hard reality. Al- 



joan's last campaign 225 

though the 'day was near, and the consequence 
fearful, Joan never flinched, no more than if 
she had been assured of a happy death in ex- 
treme old age. She explained at Rouen, that, 
if left to herself, she would avoid the place and 
time of death foretold; but that, finally, no 
matter what it cost, she would always obey her 
Voices. 

Section 3, — The Position of Burgundy and the 
English 

Judging from the correspondence of the 
Duke of Burgundy with the English, things 
looked black for their united cause at this time. 
He scarcely exaggerated the sufferings and iso- 
lation of Paris; no one ventured outside its 
walls. He advised the sending of a large army 
from England, a blow at Rheims, a campaign 
on the Loire, but especially the capture of 
Compiegne, in order to relieve and protect 
Paris. He had a bitter grudge against this 
strong and most important city, because it re- 
fused to accept his sway, when, Charles VII and 
his council handed it over to him. 

Meanwhile the love and terror of Joan's 
name had scarcely diminished. The English 
were slow to enlist, and were deserting at home, 
as the Burgundians, and, in particular, the 
Picards, were in France. Chastelain, a Bur- 
gundian chronicler, wrote of her about this 
time that people knew not what to think of her ; 
her foes feared her, and her friends worshiped 



226 joan's last campaign 

her. Tlie Duke of Bedford, writing later to the 
English king, attributes justly all the evil done 
him to the Maid. Before she came, ' ' all things 
prospered" for him; but so great a change was 
soon wrought, that those yet under English 
allegiance in France could neither till nor trade, 
but were driven to extreme and unbearable 
poverty. 

Neither fear nor love, however, seemed to 
affect Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. His 
party had harassed their countrymen during 
the truce, which served him merely as a time of 
preparation for war. 

On April 23rd the boy-king of England 
landed at Calais, with the purpose of being 
crowned king of France at Eheims; and soon 
an Anglo-Burgundian army was advancing 
towards the Oise and Compiegne. 



CHAPTEE XXIV 

THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNE 

COMPiEGNE, the Orleans of the Oise, is about 
forty miles northeast of Paris, which it 
threatened, and in some sense commanded. It 
barred Burgundy from the Ile-de-France. Few 
cities were more loved by Joan. Hither she 
came four or five times, in the interest of the 
city and of France. The council of Charles VII 
did not intend to fight against the Duke of Bur- 
gundy; but Joan did, and so did Compiegne. 
She won the fight, even though it cost her life. 

Compiegne is on the eastern bank of the Oise 
— ^which flows southwest — about two miles be- 
low its confluence with the Aisne, which flows 
westward. Near the confluence was Choisy, on 
the north bank of the Aisne. Nearly opposite 
the Aisne mouth, fell in the Aronde, flowing 
eastward to the Oise. About twenty-one kilo- 
meters west from the Oise, on the Aronde, was 
the fortress of Gournay, on the northern bank. 
Much nearer, on the same river, only four miles 
west of the Oise, was Coudun, which became the 
headquarters of the Duke of Burgundy during 
the siege of Compiegne. 

The Duke of Burgundy, about to begin the 

227 



228 THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNE 

war, appointed Peronne, fifty miles north of 
Compiegne on the Somme, as the rendezvous of 
his army. A part, too — the artillery, it is said 
— gathered at Montdidier, southwest of Peronne, 
and much nearer to Compiegne. He visited 
both places before the advance. 

We find Joan at Senlis on April 24th, asking 
quarters for her thousand horsemen. Louis de 
Bourbon- Vendome was in command ; but he re- 
fused to receive her; there was place for only 
thirty or forty, was the answer. She then ap- 
pears to have distributed her men between 
Crepy, Lagny, and Compiegne. Mention is 
made at this time of her visits to various places, 
recruiting and watching Burgundy's war-cloud 
on the Somme. 

On the 20th of April, John de Luxembourg 
left Peronne with the vanguard, and crossed 
the Oise, to clear the country of the French 
outposts. The Duke of Burgundy followed on 
the 23rd, and apparently went to Montdidier; 
for from here, according to Monstrelet, he ad- 
vanced on Gournay. This place belonged to his 
brother-in-law, Charles de Bourbon-Clermont, 
whose folly caused the disaster of Eouvray 
field. In command of Gournay was Tristan de 
Magnelers, who, seeing that he could not resist 
the Burgundian, offered to capitulate on 
August 1st if Charles VII or his friends did 
not meanwhile send a force against the Anglo- 
Burgundians. Having obtained the place, the 
duke went back with his army to Noyon, which 



THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNE 229 

was favorable to his party. After a week, he 
determined to take the town and castle of 
Choisy, on the Aisne, near Compiegne. This 
was across the Oise, which he bridged. 

Seeing Compiegne threatened, Joan came 
straight to help it. Here she found Clermont, 
who was commander of the army, and Eegnault 
de Chartres, Archbishop of Rheims. They 
agreed to attempt the relief of Choisy. Some 
one planned a brilliant coup-de-main to cut the 
communications of the Burgundians. On their 
southward march, they had crossed the Oise, 
or the Divette, at Pont-1'Eveque, a short dis- 
tance southwest of Noyon. This place, because 
of its importance, was held by nearly two thou- 
sand English soldiers under Montgomery and 
Stewart. A surprise attack was dangerous be- 
cause of the Auglo-Burgundians at Noyon. 
But it was planned at Compiegne, and Joan 
went with her old companion-in-arms, Xain- 
trailles, and others. They had no artillery, be- 
ing accompanied by only a few wagons with 
scaling-ladders and hurdles to bridge the moats. 
They arrived as day was breaking, probably on 
May 15th, having gone up eighteen miles on 
the west bank of the Oise. They immediately 
scaled the walls, and fell upon the garrison. 
The English fought stubbornly, holding out 
until assistance came from Noyon. Then the 
French retired, protected by a rear guard, un- 
pursued. 

Some days after, another attempt, or osten- 



230 THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNB 

sible attempt, was made to prevent tlie fall of 
Choisy. And here we are in the midst of mys- 
teries. It is well to remember, that, as Joan 
herself says, since her Voices foretold her ap- 
proaching capture, and left her to her own 
initiative in military movements, she usually 
followed the advice of the captains — no doubt, 
fearing to bring disaster on her friends. She 
was here on <]lermont 's ground and that of the 
Archbishop. Her abandonment by both soon 
after, and her condemnation by the Archbishop 
in his letter, proves that she was no great friend 
of either. Choisy was almost beside Com- 
piegne, and was connected with the Compiegne 
neighborhood by a bridge over the Aisne. 
Count Clermont and the Archbishop did not 
attempt the bridge. Compiegne had a well- 
protected bridge over the Gise, which would 
bring the French troops to the rear of Bur- 
gundy. They did not cross. There were other 
bridges over the river we are told. No use was 
made of them. But, to Joan's astonishment, as 
a recent military critic says, the army was sent 
eastward twenty miles to Soissons. For what? 
Ostensibly, to get in the rear of Burgundy at 
Choisy, by a forty miles' march instead of two. 
Soissons, a French city, refused to let them 
pass ; why did they not force it ? At worst, they 
could turn back. But — greatest wonder of all 
— the French Army is disbanded, said some ; it 
is ordered, said others, to the south of France — 
a lesser mystery; for the Prince of Orange had 



THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNE 231 

designs on Dauphiny. Clermont had put over 
Soissons an adventurer named Bournel, a 
traitor, who was actually making arrangements 
with Burgundy to hand over the city, as he 
afterwards actually did. Bournel closed the 
gates, and refused to allow the army to enter; 
he allowed, however, ''the lords and their serv- 
ants." Joan went in with Vendome and the 
Archbishop; and these two, while she was 
within, either disbanded the army, or sent it 
south. What must have Compiegne and the 
other loyal cities have thought? Joan, never- 
theless, returned with the Archbishop to Com- 
piegne with two or three hundred soldiers. 
Amongst them was Xaintrailles. 

Choisy was surrendered on the 16th to the 
Duke of Burgundy by Louis Flavy, brother and 
lieutenant of Gruillaume, the captain of Com- 
piegne. The Duke leveled to the ground the old 
battered castle. Then he proceeded to his 
headquarters at Coudun on the Aronde, where 
he was joined by the Earl of Arundel. On 
the 20th of May, he began to invest Compiegne 
on the western, or river side, by occupying the 
opposite bank of the Oise. At Clairoix, two 
miles up, at the junction of the Aronde, he 
posted John de Luxembourg with the Flemings 
and Burgundians ; opposite the city, at Margny, 
he set the Picards; and two miles below, the 
English, under Montgomery. 

Joan had left Compiegne about the 18th, and 
gone to Lagny, then back to Crepy-en-Valois, 



232 THE SIEGE OF COMPIEGNE 

to gather defenders. Count Clermont and the 
Archbishop, valuing a whole skin more than the 
safety of the city, had departed. Xaintrailles 
and her other old soldier friends had gone, too. 
But she, in spite of all cowardice and treason, 
hearing at Crepy of the investment of the city, 
gathered her three or four hundred men to- 
gether; and when they said they were too few 
even to make their way through the Anglo- 
Burgundian skirmishers, now on their side of 
the river, Joan made the soldierly reply, '*By 
my staff, there are enough of us. I will go 
and see my friends at Compiegne.'^ She 
started with her band during the night of May 
22nd ; and keeping to the east of the river, en- 
tered Compiegne, through the neighboring 
forest, at dawn on the 23rd. It was to be the 
last day of her fighting and her freedom. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE SORTIE AND CAPTURE OF JOAN 

WE seek with yearning interest the details 
of Joan's last fight and of her falling 
into the hands of the Burgundians. Alain 
Bouchard, advocate of the parliament of 
Rennes and author of the Annals of Brittany, 
says that he himself heard at Gompiegne from 
aged men what they had heard and seen as chil- 
dren on the morning of Joan's capture. This 
story has been ridiculed; but the criticism is 
more ridiculous than the story. Old men often 
forget; but it would be exceedingly strange if 
two of them invented the story they told. They 
were present in the church of St. James when 
Joan heard Mass and received Holy Com- 
munion. Then she told the little gathering that 
she was betrayed and sold, and would soon be 
put to death. 

She had ridden hard with her company all 
the preceding night ; nevertheless, they made a 
sortie on the day of their arrival in Gompiegne. 
Did Flavy, the commander, order it, or did he 
allow it 1 Military critics are astonished. What 
good could it do? And what hope to escape 
destruction? As a matter of fact, before Joan 

233 



234 THE SORTIE AND CAPTURE OF JOAN 

could vanquish the Picards whom she attacked 
in front of Domremy, both the Burgundians and 
English came up, and she was hopelessly over- 
matched. 

There was prepared in 1500, by order of 
Louis XII, at the suggestion of Admiral de 
Graville, what is called the "Abridgment of the 
Process," with biographical notes on the Maid. 
The writer says he had read in many chronicles 
that Joan was much opposed to the sortie from 
Compiegne. Naturally she would be; for she 
was surprisingly prudent in her ardor. Why 
was a sortie made so late as five in the after- 
noon? Why did the portcullis fall and the 
drawbridge open when only Joan and a few 
brave companions remained outside! What 
fear for the city if a few more English or Bur- 
gundians got into the city! They would have 
an unpleasant time. No matter how viewed, 
the more carefully we view it, the stranger this 
fateful event appears. 

The fuller details of the combat are from 
Joan herself, and the two Burgundian chroni- 
clers, Monstrelet and Chastellain; the latter, a 
man of great literary reputation, historiog- 
rapher to the Duke of Burgundy, and honored 
by Charles VII. His account is all the more 
valuable because he probably saw Joan of Arc. 

About five, then, in the afternoon of May 23rd, 
the Maid, in full armor, over which she wore a 
rich robe of crimson cloth of gold, and mounted 
on '*a dappled gray war-horse, very beautiful 



THE SOBTIE AND CAPTURE OF JOAlSr 235 

and spirited," with banner floating over her 
band of some four hundred men, rode through 
Compiegne, and over the bridge which spanned 
the Oise. They passed out by the fatal boule- 
vard, or fortification at the end of the bridge, 
which was guarded by a drawbridge and port- 
cullis. They quickly swept along the road, or 
causeway, half a mile long through the marshy 
meadows, straight to the Picard fort at Margny, 
under Baudot de Noyelle. The Picards, taken 
by surprise, were having an unequal fight, 
when, ''as luck would have it," if luck it was, 
John de Luxembourg himself was coming to 
visit de Noyelle, and saw from a distance the 
furious affray. He immediately called his 
Burgundians from Clairoix, two miles north, 
and swiftly they came, falling on the flank and 
rear of Joan's men. These fought like heroes, 
as Joan did, animating her soldiers. ''Strike 
hard," she is reported to have said; "it de- 
pends upon yourselves to win." It seemed as 
if she would win. Twice, she said, she drove 
them back to the quarters of the Burgundians — 
which seems to have been a long distance — and 
once more (as she was retiring) she drove them 
back over half the causeway. They were re- 
tiring in good order, fiercely fighting. Joan 
was guarding the rear, "greatly endeavoring," 
says Monstrelet, "to support her friends and 
bring them back safely." "The Maid," says 
Chastellain, "above the nature of woman, bore 
the brunt of the fight, and strove hard to save 



236 THE SOETIE AND CAPTUKE OP JOAN 

the company, remaining behind as a valiant 
captain. ' ' But now came up the English from 
Venette, two miles below, and rushed on the 
flank of her troop. The fierce attack seems to 
have forced her into the fields from the road. 
But she rallied and encouraged her band ; which 
now mingled with English and Burgundians, 
reached the boulevard at the end of the bridge. 
Here, says from hearsay the French captain, de 
Cagny, the combat was hottest. Joan was 
hemmed in by her foes. A Picard archer, 
seizing her cloak, dragged her down prostrate 
on the ground. Her companions devotedly de- 
fended her, and endeavored to have her re- 
mount; but she was taken, and asked to give 
her word of surrender as a prisoner. Her 
answer is, probably, the proudest of her life. 
''I have sworn and given my faith to another 
than you (to God and her king), and I will keep 
my word." The portcullis of Compiegne 
bridge fell sharply, the drawbridge was raised, 
and the Bastard of Wandonne quickly took the 
Maid back to Margny, and guarded her there 
until the end of the fray. Her brother was 
taken, too; her gallant d 'Anion, who had never 
left her, and a few others. All the English, 
Picards, Burgundians, etc., gathered round their 
prey, and ' ' raised great shouts, and gave them- 
selves up to transports of joy," says Chastel- 
lain, ^'because of the capture of the Maid." 

The Duke of Burgundy came up at the end of 
the fight, and approached the Maid. Some 



THE SORTIE AND CAPTURE OF JOAN 237 

words were said; but what they were no one 
remembered ; nor, perhaps, cared to remember. 
*'Who was happy that day?" asks the Bur- 
gundian historian. ''It was he" — Philip the 
Good. Immediately he wrote an account of the 
capture, and sent the good news as far as Brit- 
tany and Savoy. His story is not truthful ; but 
it shows the character of the chief merchant of 
the blood of Joan of Arc. 



CHAPTEE XXVI 

WAS JOAN BETKAYED? 

WHEN we consider how she had been long 
since treated by her own party, the 
question seems superfluous. Joan herself 
never uttered a single word against any one 
who supported the French cause, no matter how 
blame-worthy he might have been. If there 
were Judases around her, she acted toward 
them as Our Lord did toward His Judas. Two 
months before her captivity, she had said at 
Chalons that she feared nothing but treason. 
She must have had some reason for her word. 
There is no doubt that the French politicians, 
who to Joan's policy preferred futile negotia- 
tions with the Burgundians, had many persons 
amongst the latter with whom they kept a good 
understanding. Tremoille, for instance, had a 
brother in the opposite camp. The idea of 
negotiation was not renounced, and it was con- 
demned by Joan by word and act. 

How little the friend of La Tremoille, the 
Chancellor Archbishop of Rheims, thought of 
Joan, is seen from his letter announcing her 
capture to the people of Eheims. Joan, he 
says, was justly punished for her pride, her 

238 



WAS JOAN BETRAYED? 239 

love of fine clothes, and her self-will. Then he 
announces the coming of a shepherd boy from 
the diocese of Mende, who declared the same 
things as Joan, whom he — the Archbishop — con- 
demned. The French court, or council, dis- 
graced itself by apparently taking up this 
idiotic creature, until he fell into the hands of 
the English, who drowned him in the Seine. 

Very respectable authors, some of them con- 
temporaries, openly accuse La Tremoille and 
Flavy of having betrayed the Maid at Com- 
piegne — the author of the Abridgment of the 
Process, the Chronicle of Tournay, Bouchard, 
Morosini, etc. Flavy was a man of reprobate 
character ; friends and foes declare he had com- 
mitted more crime than could be imagined in a 
human being. In ambush he seized a marshal 
of France, Eieu de Rochef ort, and dragged him 
from prison to prison until he died. By some 
exalted patronage, he was amnestied for this 
deed. He wrung money from those w'hom he 
was appointed to defend. He murdered his 
father-in-law and mother-in-law, in order to ob- 
tain their property. The outraged wife con- 
tracted a criminal alliance with a knight, Mes- 
sire de Louvain, and both hired a barber to cut 
Flavy 's throat. Because he was slow to die, 
the wife smothered him. In the registers of 
the city there is scarcely a word about Joan of 
Arc. Were the scribes restrained by official 
fear? As a last, or later, straw, it may be 
noted that Cauchon visited Compiegne while 



240 WAS JOAN" BETKAYEO? 

negotiating the sale of the Maid. After the 
death of Regnault de Chartres in 1444, the 
question of Flavy's guilt came up in the parlia- 
ment. The accused pleaded sickness as an ex- 
cuse for not attending. Extracts of the defense 
are published by Quicherat. Here it is said 
that all who entered Compiegne with Joan on 
the morning of the 23rd of May, left the city 
immediately after her capture. However we 
may explain the action, or inaction, of the forces 
in the city, they did nothing to help her as she 
fled toward the boulevard. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

POSITION OF JOAN AS CAPTIVE 

TAKEN prisoner by a soldier of John of 
Luxembourg, she belonged to the latter, 
and was kept in his fortresses of Beaulieu and 
Beaurevoir for six months until the sale was 
effected; that is, until the end of November. 
Luxembourg, as a knight, was forbidden by the 
laws of chivalry to traffic in prisoners, es- 
pecially in the case of a woman, as it was for- 
bidden by public law to kill a prisoner held for 
ransom. His aunt and his wife were friends of 
Joan; and we may suppose that they pleaded 
for her. Luxembourg seemed to have hesitated 
for a long time. He doubly dishonored himself, 
however, and for all time, by selling the Maid's 
blood to the English; for whoever had a right 
to the prisoner, the English had none ; and they 
bought her for death by fire. It was by the 
Duke of Burgundy and Cauchon, however, or 
rather by Cauchon and the Duke of Burgundy, 
that the villainy was consummated. 

Here we are surprised by the quick entrance 
of other, and very malevolent, actors on the 
scene. The University of Paris, exulting in the 
capture, demanded by letter, the day after — so 

241 



242 rosiTiON of joan as captive 

quickly did it know and act — that the prisoner, 
as being scandalous, heretical, etc., should be 
handed over to the Inquisition for trial. This 
was the first idea of an ecclesiastical tribunal to 
dishonor the Maid and the French cause, an 
idea quickly grasped and tenaciously held by 
the English. To execute Joan, even to bum 
her, would put her out of the way, it is true; 
but would also probably help the French cam- 
paign. Not to put her to death would mean 
ransom, and she would be in the field again. 
But to have her condemned by the ''Church" 
for witchcraft, and scandalous living, would 
crush her and the cause of Charles VII, it was 
thought, under an irremovable weight of 
obloquy. 

The University, because the matter went 
slowly, wrote again soon after to the Duke of 
Burgundy and Luxembourg, with obsequious- 
ness and in a mock-religious jargon, to hurry 
on the dark affair. Again in November they 
appealed to their "most redoubtable and 
sovereign lord and father," the boy-king of 
England, to hasten the trial and appoint as 
judge "their Eeverend Father in God, and 
Honored Lord Bishop and Count of Beauvais ' ' 
(Cauchon). Like Cauchon's, the letters of the 
Universi-ty are "sicklied o'er" with sacrilegious 
hypocrisy. 

The decadent, half-schismatical University of 
Paris mixed malevolently, and very actively, in 
all the affairs of Church and State at the time. 



POSITION OF JOAN AS CAPTIVE 243 

Its partisan fanaticism was not less, perhaps it 
was greater, than that of the Parisian mob 
which it guided. It is true that the plan of the 
English authorities to do Joan to death was 
formed quickly after her capture; but they 
found peculiarly acceptable the services of the 
University, and especially of the well-paid 
Cauchon, and employed them instantly to pre- 
vent by all means Joan's ransom. The Uni- 
versity wished to dress the process of trial, or 
accusation, and it really did so by its envoys at 
Rouen. It approved of the infamous trial, or 
rather conducted it ; it heartily ratified the mur- 
derous sentence ; and its authority was invoked 
by the unjust judges. It is worth noting that 
the University, when illegally giving authority 
to Cauchon, in the name of the English king, to 
conduct the trial of Joan of Arc, declared that, 
even if the accused were not condemned, she 
would still remain a prisoner. 

The unworthy Bishop Cauchon Was a true 
son of the University ; in fact, he had been made 
its protector as well as its mouthpiece. He 
w-as a political cleric, and mixed in all the 
riotous politics of his day. Proscribed by the 
Armagnacs, he fled from Paris to his patron, 
John the Fearless, after whose death he became 
the confidential agent of Philip the Good, who 
advanced him. Having been made Bishop of 
Beauvais, he sanctioned every act done by the 
English invader, by whom he was made presi- 
dent of a commission to watch over Champagne 



244 POSITION OF JOAN AS CAPTIVE 

and the Meuse country. He had early become 
a member of the English council, and was 
destined for the see of Rouen, which he desired, 
but never received. He remained steadfastly 
attached to the English cause, even after Bur- 
gundy had renounced it. He was driven from 
Paris by Richemont and Dunois in 1436; and 
died suddenly in 1442 while in process of being 
shaved. 

Cauchon, a ready tool, was at once sent to 
negotiate the sale of Joan. In the name of the 
English king, he offered Luxembourg a price of 
six thousand livres tournois; but, in his 
anxiety and hurry, increased it in the same let- 
ter to ten thousand. It was the ransom of a 
king — to Joan's honor be it said. And faithful 
Normandy voted the entire sum six months be- 
fore it was required. He offered, at the same 
time, an annuity of three hundred livres to 
Wandonne. 

A receipt left by the bishop shows that he 
was traveling on bountiful daily expenses in the 
interest of the English king, and especially in 
the affair of Joan's sale, for five months, from 
May 1st to September 30th, 1430. And for 
three months he labored with fanatical zeal to 
get Joan into his hands. 

A cruel fact emphasized in those days the 
temper of the University of Paris. A poor 
Breton woman named Pierronne tenaciously 
proclaimed her faith in Joan of Arc as one sent 
from God. For this she was burned alive in 



POSITION OF JOAN AS CAPTIVE 245 

Paris on the 3rd of September. Letters of the 
time leave no doubt of the cause for which she 
perished. The English, too, were burying 
women alive in Normandy for giving food to 
the French guerrillas. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

JOAN IN CAPTIVITY. FEOM COMPIEGNE TO ROUEN 

JOAN passed the first night of her captivity at 
Clairoix, in the midst of the Burgnndians 
under John of Luxembourg, whose prisoner she 
was. Promptly she was led to the castle of 
Beaulieu in Picardy, some ten miles or so north 
of Compiegne-. She was determined to escape 
if she could; she was never in any prison, she 
declared at Rouen, from which she would not 
have tried to get free if possible. She cleverly 
planned to lock her guard in the tower, and so 
recover her liberty. But the porter of the 
castle saw and prevented her. Gl^od, she said, 
did not wish her to escape, and her Voices told 
her she would not be delivered until she had 
seen the king of England. She was then trans- 
ferred to the more secure prison of Beaurevoir. 
Joan spent about two weeks in Beaulieu, 
where her old equerry and now fellow-captive, 
d 'Anion, was allowed to wait upon her. Speak- 
ing to her one day he said that Compiegne, 
which she loved, would now fall into the hands 
of the foe. ''It will riot be so," she answered. 
' ' No town of France given back by the King of 
Heaven to the gentle King Charles will be lost, 

246 



JOAN IN CAPTIVITY 247 

if only he take care to guard it. ' ' It was a fair 
prophecy, and with fuller fulfillment; for he 
took little care to guard Compiegne. 

Gilles de Roye, an author of weight, and sub- 
ject of Burgundy, says that Joan was brought 
to Noyon to be shown as a curiosity to the 
newly wedded duchess of Philip the Good. The 
duchess Isabel came here on June 6th ; and Joan 
was probably on her way to Beaurevoir. This 
strong castle of the Luxembourgs was much 
farther north, or rather northeast, still in 
Picardy, on the frontiers of Vermandois and 
the Cambrai country. Still visible are the 
moats, though partly filled, the base of the 
towers, and an esplanade, now under cultiva- 
tion. Benignant Providence had so disposed 
that Joan should spend four months here with 
kindly jailers. They were the aunt and wife 
of John of Luxembourg. The former, now ad- 
vanced in years, was godmother of Charles VII, 
and had been remarkable for the piety of her 
life. The wife had been allied, by a former 
marriage, to the house of Bar; and her heart 
was with the cause of France. Several priests 
were attached to the chapel of the castle, the 
religious functions being frequent and solemn. 
Mass was chanted each day, and the office on 
feast-days. These were Joan's consolation. 
The ladies of the castle offered her female 
clothing; but Joan said she had not the per- 
mission of Our Lord to wear it, and that it was 
not yet time. "If I ought to take woman's 



248 JOAN IN CAPTIVITY 

dress," she added, ''I would have done so for 
these ladies -sooner than for any others in 
France, except my queen." She had here an 
opportunity of proving to her friends that it 
was not yet prudent or timely to lay aside her 
warrior costume. Sire Aymond, Seigneur of 
Macy, a knight, testified at Joan's Rehabilita- 
tion, when he was about fifty-six years of age, 
that he had often seen Joan in prison and 
spoken to her. He was in the employ of John 
of Luxembourg. Here at Beaurevoir he at- 
tempted the indecent familiarities of a rough 
soldier — poor Joan, no wonder she shrank from 
their prison — but she repelled him instantly 
"with all her strength." He never lost the im- 
pression of her sacred modesty. To his mind 
she was a perfect Christian, and surely in para- 
dise. He visited her afterwards at Eouen with 
Luxembourg, in the presence, or company, of 
the Earls of Stafford and Warwick. Luxem- 
bourg doesn't gain much credit from the inter- 
view. He said to Joan that he had come to ran- 
som her if she would swear not to carry arms 
any more against the English and their French 
friends. But she told him plainly that he had 
neither the will nor the way to set her free. 
She knew, she declared, that the English would 
kill her in hope of possessing France after her 
death. But France they will never possess, she 
continued, even if they had a hundred thousand 
more godons (g-d-s) than they have. Where- 
upon Stafford half-drew his dagger, as if to 



JOAN IN CAPTIVITY 249 

stab her; but Warwick restrained him. Joan 
living was much more profitable. De Macy 
tells things of great importance, especially how 
fictitious was Joan's alleged retractation. 

Cauchon mentions his journey to Beaurevoir 
and Flanders while endeavoring to purchase 
Joan of Arc. His purpose was, we may sup- 
pose, to counteract the influence of the ladies 
of Luxembourg's family. The Duke of Bur- 
gundy was then apparently in Flanders. 
Cauchon had business with him. 

Luxembourg's aunt was approaching death. 
On September 10th, she made him her heir ; and 
on the 13th of November she breathed her last. 
It is probably this that caused the transfer of 
Joan, on September 29th, to Arras, which be- 
longed to the Duke of Burgundy. She was 
aware of the intended change, as she was of 
her sale to the English; and in her terror of 
falling into English hands, she sprang from the 
lofty tower of the castle of Beaurevoir. She 
herself describes the incident. When she un- 
derstood that she was about to be given up to 
the English, her terror was so great that she 
could scarcely control it. She was tormented, 
too, by fear of the fall of Compiegne; for she 
knew the temper of Burgundy and dreaded a 
massacre. Her Voices forbade her constantly 
to leap from the high tower; but she pleaded, 
and her prayer was touching. Would God let 
perish a people so loyal as those of Compiegne f 
St. Catherine promised they would be relieved. 



250 JOAN IN CAPTIVITY 

''If SO," Joan urged, ''I would wish to be with 
them." She must be patient, answered St. 
Catherine ; she herself will not be set free until 
she sees the English king. ''Truly," said 
Joan, "I do not wish to see him." At length, 
terror overcame her; and commending herself 
to God and the Blessed Mother, she let herself 
fall from the tower. Whatever means she em- 
ployed, it broke, according to the story of a 
chronicler. She was preserved from death, by 
St. Catherine, she learned afterwards ; no bone 
was broken ; but she was found unconscious, and 
for two or three days could not eat or drink. 
St. Catherine came to console and strengthen 
her; told her to take courage; to confess her 
fault, and it would be forgiven ; and that Com- 
piegne would be delivered from all danger be- 
fore Martinmas. Then she began to eat, and 
was soon well. Although she preferred death, 
she said, to captivity in the hands of the Eng- 
lish; yet she denied that she had any thought 
of despair or suicide. There was just the bold, 
brave hope that she could save herself and once 
more lead her host to victory. 

The conduct of the siege of Compiegne had 
been given over to John of Luxembourg ; for the 
Duke of Burgundy was gone to gather in the 
inheritance left by hrs deceased cousin, the 
Duke of Brabant. The Duke of Vendome made 
a solemn public vow to Our Lady in the cathe- 
dral of Senlis, and marched with de Boussac to 
the relief of the city. Luxembourg drew up 



JOAN IN" CAPTIVITY 251 

his army to prevent their approach. But from 
Compiegne sallied forth garrison and citizens 
on his rear, assisted by some of Vendome's 
troops, who had passed around the Burgun- 
dians. A fort was stormed, and the French 
Army entered the city. Then passing over the 
river in boats, they occupied the ground where 
Joan had been taken captive. The siege opera- 
tions were broken up; the English withdrew, 
and John of Luxembourg followed. The city 
was free on the 25th of October, two weeks be- 
fore St. Martin's Day, as St. Catherine had 
promised. 

On the 29th of September, Joan was changed 
to Arras in Artois, northwest of Beaurevoir; 
and thus came directly under the control of the 
Duke of Burgundy. She remained probably a 
month. Here she was urged, out of friendly 
motives, by Sire de Preissy and others, to as- 
sume female attire. At Arras a Scot brought 
to Joan his portrait of her — she said it 
resembled her— representing her in armor, pre- 
senting a book to the king as she knelt before 
him. The friendly stranger may have brought 
files, too, to enable her to cut her way to free- 
dom. For when questioned at Bouen whether 
files had been given her at Arras, she asked, 
''Did they find any with me? I have no more 
to say." Perhaps she was weary of their 
foolish questions. 

The money voted by Normandy, or by its 
authorities, as the price of Joan, was gathered 



252 JOAN IN CAPTIVITY 

slowly, coming in only at the end of October. 
Then Joan was handed over. She was sent 
westward a much longer stage, to the strong 
castle of Crotoy by the sea, at the mouth of the 
Somme. On the way she passed a night at the 
castle of Drugy, which belonged to the nearby 
abbey of St. Eiquier. There the monks and the 
chief people of the place came to express their 
sympathy for Joan. From Abbeville, quite 
near, a city loyal at heart, the ladies came to 
see and honor the captive. She thanked them 
with much feeling, kissed them, and bade them 
adieu. At Crotoy, where she remained nearly 
two months, she found unexpected consolations. 
Here a priest was kept prisoner, because of his 
loyalty to France, as it appears, Dr. Nicolas de 
Quiefdeville, Chancellor of the cathedral of 
Amiens, "si very remarkable man," says de 
Macy. He said Mass every day, heard Joan's 
confession, and gave her Holy Communion. 
He spoke of her afterwards in the highest terms 
of praise. Joan seems to have been still at 
Crotoy on the 21st of November, from letters 
of the University of Paris to Cauchon and the 
English king, demanding that she be tried at 
Paris, and regretting that she had not fallen 
into the University's own hands. On leaving 
Crotoy about mid-December, Joan said she saw 
St. Michael, who did not afterwards appear to 
her up to the time of her trial. She was re- 
gretted at Crotoy, for she had imparted much 
consolation there. From the castle walls she 



V 





THE DEATH OF JOAN OF ARC 



JOAN IN CAPTIVITT 258 

passed the wide mouth of the Somme in a boat 
with guards; went through St. Valery on the 
opposite side; then along the coast by Eu to 
Dieppe. Thence she was taken directly south 
to Kouen. It had been a long, hard, circuitous 
journey from Compiegne to Rouen; but it was 
the last on earth. Her pas-sion, long and bitter, 
was about to begin. During the five or six 
months she had yet to live all her terror would 
be more than justified — in the words of Mr. 
Lowell, "'in constant physical distress, at 
nearly every moment of the day and night in 
danger of the foulest indignity and outrage, for 
weeks in daily danger of the rack, daily sub- 
jected to the keenest mental torture which ex- 
perts could devise, with death at the end. Dur- 
ing all this time, her every word and act were 
watched by the shrewdest of her enemies, eager 
to catch her in error by fair means or by foul, 
and more than once these enemies believed 
themselves successful. It is plain, at any rate, 
that Joan's successes from her capture to her 
death were not helped by generals or soldiers, 
by friends or enthusiastic crowds. As to the 
aid of man she stood alone. ' ' 



CHAPTER XXIX 

Joan's last prison 

JOAN was imprisoned in the fortress of 
Eouen, a place of enormous strength, sit- 
uated near the walls of the city, with towers one 
hundred and fifty feet high and forty feet in 
diameter, the walls being twelve feet thick. 
She may have thought on entering that her de- 
liverance was near; for the boy-king of Eng- 
land, whom St. Catherine said she was to see, 
had been residing here since July of that year, 
and continued to reside during her entire cap- 
tivity. The prison of Joan looked ''toward the 
fields," said Aymond de Macy; although Mas- 
sieu, who was apparitor, or usher, at the trial, 
calls it a camera media, or middle chamber; 
that is, we may suppose, in the interior of the 
castle. It was a dark room, approached by 
eight steps. There was apparently nothing in 
it, by way of furniture, save a bed, on which 
Joan was chained by the feet to a large beam. 
We cannot give the name of furniture to an 
iron cage, in which Joan was inclosed in wild- 
beast fashion from her arrival in Rouen to the 
beginning of the trial; that is, for the space of 
two months, from the closing days of December 
to February 21st. In this she stood, chained by 
the hands, feet and neck. 

254 



Joan's last pbison 255 

She was guarded by five English soldiers, 
who are described by a name which leaves no 
doubt as to their character — they were pillagers 
of houses, who committed nameless outrages on 
the people of the country. Their conduct 
toward Joan showed what they were. These 
men the intruded judge, who was really the 
prosecutor. Bishop Cauohon, made swear to 
guard Joan well, which, from the sense and cir- 
cumstances, means that she must have no hope 
of escape. Three of these men were in the 
room day and night, and two at the door. 

In ecclesiastical trials the accused should be 
placed in an ecclesiastical prison; and women 
should be guarded by women. Such prisons 
there were in Rouen, attached to the courts of 
the Archbishop. Joan saw the interior of none 
of these. She begged to be sent there ; and once 
they promised her the desired boon in order to 
make her retract, as they said. ' ' Oh, men of the 
Church," she exclaimed, ^Hake me to your 
prison, out of the hands of the English. ' ' 

The soldiers amused themselves by torment- 
ing her with the threat of approaching death. 
They mocked her, and attempted to do her im- 
moral violence. Hence she would not, and 
could not, renounce male attire — no longer, in 
fact, forbidden in the Bible, since we are not 
under the Old Law. At night she drew her gar- 
ments as tightly as possible around her for 
safety. Except these precious guards, no one 
was allowed to see Joan, unless authorized by 



256 joan's last peison 

Cauohon. Traitors, however, and spies, were 
introduced, to deceive lier by false counsel, or 
by obtaining an incriminating confession. The 
traitorous Loyseleur, a priest — to our Christian 
shame, be it said — so deceived Joan that she 
confessed to him. He had, in fact, asked to be 
appointed her confessor, and was the only one 
approved by Cauchon. 

De la Pierre, who was most intimately ac- 
quainted with the circumstances of Joan's trial 
and prison, swore at the Rehabilitation that 
Joan declared publicly "the great wrong and 
violence ' ' done her by the English when she had 
assumed female attire after the so-called ab- 
juration. And he saw her sorrowful face 
bathed in tears, disfigured and outraged to such 
a great extent that he had great pity for her. 
Ladvenu, a similar witness, said that the simple 
Maid revealed to him that they had tormented 
her with violence in the prison; that they had 
beaten her; and that an English milord — War- 
wick is the only one suspected — had attempted 
to violate her. She was, by the way, committed 
to his charge. The great and pious Bedford, 
canon of the cathedral of Rouen, looked on con- 
cealed while his wife subjected the Maid to a 
physical examination. She complained ex- 
traordinarily, said Toutmouille, of the violence 
done her in prison by the jailers and others who 
were allowed to enter. '*We do not know," 
writes Mr. Andrew Lang, ''that Philip of Bur- 
gundy would have sunk to the depths of shame 



Joan's last prison 257 

that were reached by the Duke of Bedford and 
the Earl of Warwick. . . . When an earl thus 
forgot himself, we may imagine the ribaldry of 
her daily and nightly companions, 'five English 
houcepailliers of the basest degree. ' ' ' 



CHAPTER XXX 

SOME OF THE SANHEDRIN 

WITH Bishop Cauchon we are already ac- 
quainted. He had no more right to 
judge Joan than had the Khan of Tartary. He 
appointed himself ; and whatever authority was 
lacking was conferred, in intent at least, by the 
University of Paris and the king of England. 
Neither had he any ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 
That Joan was taken prisoner at Compiegne 
was no more a reason for Cauchon to judge her 
anywhere, and least of all out of his diocese, 
than that which the University of Paris had for 
judging the Pope. Fecit, tamen, as St. Augus- 
tine says of Pontius Pilate : they did it, never- 
theless. 

The unworthy bishop's superior, the arch- 
bishop of Rheims, had approved as of heavenly 
origin what Bishop Cauchon condemns as 
meriting death by fire. The cathedral chapter 
of Rouen had no more right to hand over Joan 
for trial to Cauchon, her deadly enemy, than 
had the child unborn. There was scarcely a 
form, or aspect of justice, that he did not 
violate, no matter what other false Frenchmen 
may have later said. Let them read the list of 
illegalities — there is no difficulty in finding 

258 



SOME OF THE SANHEDKIN" 259 

them. And it is an unvarnished falsehood to 
say that the procedure of the French Inquisi- 
tion was the same as that of the Sanhedrin of 
Eouen. 

Thomas Courcelles was especially chosen by 
Cauchon. He was one of the six doctors sent 
by the University of Paris to examine the Maid. 
All through the trial he was very exact in his 
task, and very well paid in the sum of one hun- 
dred and thirteen livres. Courcelles was one of 
the few in favor of subjecting Joan to torture. 
M. Quicherat calls him, and truly enough, "the 
father of Galilean liberties"; for probably no 
one dictated more articles than he in the schis- 
matical council of Basle. He was the foe of 
Pope Eugene IV, and supporter of the anti- 
pope Felix V. 

Erard, another of the doctors, preached at 
Joan in the cemetery at Rouen a discourse of 
extreme and unworthy violence. He was one 
of those who brutally tried to force Joan to 
sign a lying retraction. He had been rector of 
the University of Paris ; and, like his brethren, 
was as antipapal as he was anti-French. 

Nicolas Midi, another of the Paris envoys, 
the last to preach at Joan before her execution, 
is supposed to have been the author — and 
calumniator — of the famous, or infamous XII 
Articles, sent from Rouen to Paris as a sum- 
mary of the trial, and in which the defense is 
mutilated, or omitted. 

Estivet, the prosecutor, canon of Beauvais, 



260 SOME OF THE SANHEDEIN 

whence he was driven with Cauchon, was, of all 
this group, the lowest. His language resembled 
that of the English soldiers to Joan at Orleans. 

The clergy of Eouen had been won over by 
the Duke of Bedford, who showed them many 
favors. On October 23rd, 1430, when the price 
of the Maid was being handed over, he was ad- 
mitted into the body of canons of the cathedral 
of Rouen. The religious orders, especially the 
Benedictines, were very numerous. We find 
them, unfortunately, cutting an evil figure in 
the trial of Joan. Gilles Duremort, abbot of 
Fecamp, and member of the English royal coun- 
cil, received the sum of one thousand livres for 
his share in the iniquitous transaction. He was 
an intimate friend of Bishop Cauchon, and was 
afterwards made bishop of Coutances. He 
did not reside in his monastery, but in his fine 
palace at Rouen; as did his fellow-religious of 
like character, Nicolas Leroux, abbot of 
Jumieges, and Pierre Miget, prior of Longue- 
ville. 

Several Englishmen took part in the Process, 
especially at decisive points. Of these was 
William Hayton, a bachelor in theology, secre- 
tary of the king and member of the royal coun- 
cil, who voted for Joan's death. 

''What a spectacle," says Father Ayroles, 
"to see this unlettered girl of nineteen years, 
weakened by the torments of her prison, de- 
fending herself unaided against an army of 
men, who were reputed to be depositaries of 



SOME OF THE SANHEDRIN 261 

human and divine knowledge, banded together 
to drag from her some incriminating word!" 
What a shocking scandal for the gentle, pious 
peasant maiden from fair Domremy! It was 
an evil time; a time of schismatics and anti- 
popes, when king and nobles intruded into the 
highest ecclesiastical positions their illegitimate 
sons or unworthy favorites. Eelaxation of 
discipline was notorious, and all the excesses of 
the next century, the sixteenth, naturally 
followed. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

GENEEAL VIEW OF THE TRIAL 

F we consider the lengtli of this trial and the 
number of persons officially connected, one 
way or another, with the conduct of it, and the 
lofty station of many of these, it is one of the 
very important causes in history. If we con-" 
sider the motives which impelled the tribunal; 
that is to say, the series of brilliant victories 
which practically caused the expulsion of the 
English, victories due to the marvelous leader- 
ship of a peasant maiden, this becomes one of 
the greatest historical trials. But if we take 
into consideration the malice and skill of the 
accusers, from judge to usher, and the wisdom, 
prudence, superhuman courage and ability of 
the simple, peasant, warrior girl, we have a case 
entirely unique. 

The trial was, practically, presided over, or 
directed, by the Earl of Warwick for the Eng- 
lish boy-king, who was present in the castle. 
He was sure of the sentence which he desired, 
and never failed to keep it in view. Cardinal 
Beaufort, granduncle of the king, who appeared 
but little, but did appear at the most solemn 
moment, and who ordered Joan^s ashes to be 
thrown into the Seine, cannot be shown not to 

262 



GENERAL VIEiW OF THE TRIAL 263 

have been the chief ecclesiastical official in the 
matter. The illustrious University of Paris 
was the watch-dog, or rather perhaps the bull- 
dog. It was really this decadent body that con- 
ducted the trial and passed sentence. 

It was a disgusting, wearisome trial; even 
the reading of it makes the head ache. A gen- 
eral view may help to clear the foggy atmos- 
phere. A preliminary meeting was held by 
Cauchon on January 9th. From January 13th 
to February 20th, some eight meetings were 
held to form the tribunal and prepare the proc- 
ess, or charges. The examination of Joan be- 
gan on February 21st, and continued to the 
27th; and from the 1st to the 25th of March, 
with a few days' interruption. Sometimes the 
sessions were held both morning and evening, 
the poor, weary, ill-treated prisoner defending 
herself against perfidious, envenomed question- 
ers, who having failed to find testimony against 
anything in her life, now endeavored to wring 
her condemnation from her words. She pro- 
tested she would answer only what concerns the 
Process, and nothing against her king, even if 
her head is to be cut off. The poor child saw 
much more in the king of France than he per- 
sonally was worth, and she was right. 

The questions regarded chiefly her revela- 
tions, her use of male attire, and her predic- 
tions. Of these last she made some new ones, 
most distressing for the court. She demanded 
most earnestly, nay most piteously, the offices 



264 GENERAL VIEW OP THE TRIAL, 

and Sacraments of the Church, to which they 
would prove her unfaithful. And with truly 
diabolical art they sought to confuse her as to 
the meaning of ''the Church." But she re- 
mained ever on solid ground — a far surer- 
theologian than the '* venerable and discreet 
persons ' ' who examined. 

There were actually seventy heads of accusa- 
tion, drawn up by Estivet. These were read 
to her by Courcelles on the 27th and 28th of 
March. A supplement was added on Holy Sat- 
urday, the 31st. An abridgment of the seventy 
heads, called the XII Articles, was prepared for 
distribution and consultation, especially with 
the University of Paris. These, when read in 
a private session, were found to be incorrect; 
but no change was made. Joan never heard 
them. Here her words were changed literally 
and in sense, and her explanations were 
omitted. They were sent to Paris on April 
14th, with doctors who were to expand them 
orally. After a month the University approved 
of them, condemning Joan's revelations as 
"either pernicious impostures, or works of 
Belial, Satan, and Behemoth." So on with the 
rest; Joan was declared guilty of blasphemy, 
heresy, suspicion of idolatry ; she was a traitor, 
and seditious, deceitful and cruel, scandalous, 
capable of impiety towards her parents — ^not a 
vile word is missing. The gentlemen of the 
University congratulated the boy-king on his 
good work in this trial, and they recommended 



GENEKAL VIEW OF THE TBIAL 265 

to his royal favors the doctors who brought the 
precious Articles to them from Eouen. Finally 
they offer their services for any further good 
work of this kind. 

Their letter to Cauchon is much more con- 
temptible. He would be illustrious forever by 
this great battle against the poor Maid, who 
was, evidently, very important in their eyes; 
and in his lordship's fame would share the 
three *'most famous doctors, our students," 
who had borne the weighty Articles from Rouen 
to Paris. 

Joan sickened over it all. In the first days 
of April she was in danger of death. The Eng- 
lish wished to throw her alive into the fire ; but 
it was wiser to wait and cure her for it. From 
the 5th of April to the 2nd of May, there is 
nothing in the Process, but a caritative, admin- 
istered in prison — that is, a threat of death un- 
less she abjured her alleged errors ; which 
means that she was invited to deny the known 
truth, and what was to her the word and work 
of God. The caritative was made stronger on 
May 2nd near the great hall. On the 9th an 
attempt was made to terrify Joan by the ex- 
hibition of the instruments. Lohier, a famous 
canonist, passing through Rouen, was drawn 
into the case. He pointed out some illegalities 
and fled. Canon Houppeville was thrown into 
prison, and was in danger of death. Canon 
Fontaine escaped. De la Pierre, a Dominican, 
making clear an answer of Joan in order to 



266 GENERAL VIEW OF THE TRIAL 

show her orthodoxy, was threatened with death. 
The theological doctors of Normandy were con- 
sulted. Many of these referred the matter back 
to Cauchon's tribunal, as being quite compe- 
tent. Most of them made concessions. Some 
condemned the Process, and referred it to Rome 
— for instance, the Bishop of Avranches. 
These favorable opinions Cauchon forbade his 
officials to read. On the 19th of May, the deci- 
sions of the University of Paris were applauded 
in a numerous assembly; and a new caritative 
was given to Joan. It was decided, that, if she 
did not retract, there was room for a declara- 
tion of heresy. The caritative failed on Joan, 
and the end soon followed. 

During this interminable trial there were 
twenty-seven sessions of the court. The judge, 
self-appointed, was the Anglo-Burgundian 
Bishop Cauclion. His assistant judge was 
Lemaitre, the Vice-Inquisitor of France, a 
Dominican Friar, who entered into the Process 
against his will, but served throughout because 
appointed by his superior, who was thus re- 
sponsible, although he took care to remain at a 
distance. The trial, then, was not the work of 
the French Inquisition, nor did it follow the 
procedure of the Inquisition. Fontaine was to 
take Cauchon's place when the latter was not 
present. With these there were in all one hun- 
dred and thirteen assessors, or consultors, who, 
while called upon for counsel, had no decisive 
vote, that is to say, the judge regarded the ad- 



GEliTERAL VIEW OF THE TRIAL 267 

vice, or did not, as lie pleased; generally, he 
was sure of it. These assessors never sat all 
together at any one time. Sixty-four was the 
largest number ever present; thirty-one sat 
only once ; more than eighty were the progeny, 
henchmen, representatives of the University of 
Paris. The most assiduous of all was Nicolas 
Midi, ex-rector of the University, afterwards 
stricken with leprosy. 

The officials appointed, at the trial of Re- 
habilitation of Joan, to examine this proces ver- 
bal, or evidence — let us retain the word — chiefly 
the evidence, , more or less fairly written, of 
Joan herself, branded it as illegal, unfair, and 
mutilated, giving the reason, that there was no 
liberty. The notaries testify to the violence 
done them. Manchon, for instance, declares 
that he was often reproached by Cauchon and 
the assessors, who wished him to write accord- 
ing to their ideas, forbidding him to write what 
they disapproved of. Manchon insists on his 
own honesty, however; although he admits he 
could not always resist the powerful pressure 
brought to bear on him. The XII Articles were 
not a correct summary of the evidence, as he 
pointed out ; yet no correction was made in this 
ominous document, which was sent to Paris, 
and was fatal to Joan. Colles (Boisguillaume) , 
his fellow-notary, says that Estivet was con- 
stantly accusing the notaries of not writing 
what they were told. Several witnesses at the 
Rehabilitation testified to the unfairness of the 



268 GENEEAL VIEW OF THE TEIAIj 

trial, affirming that it was conducted in a spirit 
of hatred and injustice, to please the English, 
who were determined to burn Joan. Some 
there were, however, who would not say that 
the Process was unfaithful; while others said 
that the notaries wrote honestly, as, de facto, 
they appear to have done substantially, with 
some grievous faults. De la Pierre, while 
testifying to the notaries' fidelity, admits that 
Joan's appeal to a General Council of the 
Church was not written, because it was for- 
bidden by Cauchon. Manchon, whatever his 
weakness, is, of all, most worthy of pardon. He 
was the chief recorder of the trial, and has 
given us substantially the glorious figure of the 
Maid. Hence it was that he felt the weight of 
English hostility. 

The formula of abjuration in the Process 
contains fifty lines ; but that read to Joan, which 
she is said to have signed, contained only seven 
or eight. The session of the 28th of May, which 
was triumphantly supposed to have proved her 
relapse, would, if truthfully written, only prove 
the shamelessness of her judges. Such defects, 
illegalities, falsifications, run all through the 
proces verbal; and give reason to hesitate be- 
fore accepting its statements, particularly in 
points in which the judges were most desirous 
to obtain Joan's condemnation. Lefevre testi- 
fied that he was not summoned to the trial after 
the sermon in the cemetery of St. Ouen ; yet the 
Process asserts that he took part in the con- 



GENERAXi VIEW OF THE TRIAL 269 

demnation of Joan on May 29tli. There were 
sessions of the court, numerous and important, 
held without the presence of Joan, the accused. 
The account of the proceedings, as given in the 
Process, is short and suspicious-looking; we 
have only too many reasons to think that it was 
curtailed and arranged by Cauchon to suit his 
own purposes. Lemaitre came to the court 
only on the 14th of March; yet on the 12th 
he is put down as having been already present 
at many sessions. Ladvenu, whose prior he 
was, says he often went with him to the trial; 
but in the minutes it is said that Ladvenu was 
at only three or four sessions. In the proces 
verbal there is no admission of tumult, cross 
questions, violent reproof of persons who 
showed fairness or favor. The answers of 
Joan are often written without the questions 
which elicited them. Yet the pure and noble 
figure of Joan emerges radiant from the ob- 
scure and confused scene, notwithstanding in- 
justice and condemnation. Many witnesses 
said she seemed inspired. She herself affirmed 
(for instance, in the sessions of March 31st) 
that she had answered nothing save with the 
counsel of her Voices, who used to speak to 
her even in the court-room. She often asked 
for a delay to answer, that she might have the 
help of her heavenly friends. They spoke to 
her daily and nightly, often several times. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

PEJBPARING FOR THE TRIAL 

WHERE Joan had spent Christmas we do 
not know. What thoughts must have 
crept into her lonely heart of fair Domremy and 
of childhood! Whatever joy there may have 
been at Christmas, her New Year was certainly 
about to have less. On the 3rd of January, 
that is soon after her coming to Eouen, the boy- 
king of England (resident in the castle of 
Rouen, and therefore near his prisoner), is 
made to say in a formal document that, at the 
instance of his royal council (of which Bishop 
Cauchon was one of the most influential mem- 
bers), and at the prayer ''of the Reverend 
Father in God (Cauchon), our friend and faith- 
ful councilor, the ecclesiastical judge and or- 
dinary of the said Jeanne (which he was not), 
and at the exhortation of the Doctors and 
Masters of our beloved daughter, the University 
of Paris," he hands over Joan for trial, as if 
he had a right. 

In the Process, which is written in the name 
of Cauchon, for he speaks in it all through, he 
says, that, on January 9th, he assembled in the 
hall of the royal council, near the castle, the 
abbots of Fecamp and Jumieges; Miget, prior 

270 



PREPAEING FOR THE TRIAL. 271 

of Longueville; Roussel, treasurer of the 
church of Rouen ; Venderes, archdeacon of Eu ; 
Barbier, licentiate in theology and canon law; 
Couppequesne, bachelor in theology; and 
Loyseleur, a Master of arts. They agreed that 
information should be taken regarding Joan — 
a step legally necessary. The bishop said that 
some information had been already taken, and 
more would be, forthwith. Cauchon states in 
the minutes of the meeting, that, with the advice 
of his assessors, the following officers were ap- 
pointed. ^'The venerable and discreet person, 
Jean d'Estivet, canon of Rouen and Beauvais," 
was made prosecutor. Guillaume Colles, called 
Boisguillaume, and Guillaume Manchon, nota- 
ries of the archbishop of Rouen, were retained 
for their official functions. Jean Fontaine was 
to supply the place of the judge, if absent. And 
Jean Massieu was made apparitor, or usher, to 
carry out the judge's orders, and present the 
prisoner before him. 

On January 13th the judge held a meeting in 
his own house, at which were present the abbot 
of Fecamp, Venderes, Couppequesne, Fontaine, 
Loyseleur, and Hayton, an English priest and 
councilor of the king. The bishop says in the 
Process, that information had been received, 
and was read at the meeting; but no one has 
ever known anything about it. On the 23rd 
there was a session of the same assessors under 
the presidency of Fontaine, in the absence of 
Cauchon. It is stated in the minutes, that ar- 



272 PREPARING FOR THE TRIAL. 

tides of indictment, drawn up upon informa- 
tion received, were approved. But of informa- 
tion or articles there is no record ; they are not 
in the Process. In the trial of Rehabilitation 
it was testified, that the information procured 
by the bishop in Domremy and its neighborhood 
was so favorable to Joan, that he never made 
it known. 

On the 13th of February to these counselors 
was made the important addition of six doctors 
of theology from the University of Paris; 
Beaupere (a man of many benefices) Midi, and 
Maurice, who held canonries in Rouen, and were 
ex-rectors of the Paris University; Courcelles, 
the great foe of Papal prerogatives, who had 
been twice rector; Touraine, Texier, and 
Feuillet, Friars Minor. 

In a session on February 19th, Bishop Cau- 
chon said that, in view of the information re- 
ceived from the boy-king, the cause of the Maid 
should be introduced. The counselors *' delib- 
erated long and maturely"; and, apparently, 
approved; for the case was taken up. Of this 
preliminary information, legally required for a 
trial, nothing is known; it is a fatal lacuna. 
Loyseleur and Manchon, who, if it existed, must 
have seen, and, probably, written it, remem- 
bered nothing about it at the trial of Rehabili- 
tation. The judges at this second trial found 
no trace of it. 

In these first five sessions, therefore, we find 
no basis for a Process against the Maid. Cau- 



PBEPARING FOR THE TRIAL 273 

chon never ventured to show any. He does 
not isay that the assessors agreed that there was 
ground for a trial ; but that, after having heard 
them, he instituted it. 

In this session of February 19th Cauchon 
made a bold move quite in harmony with his 
and his English employers' plan, to make the 
French Inquisition responsible, at least in part, 
for the trial and condemnation of Joan of Arc. 
''Out of respect for the Apostolic See," he sum- 
mons "the venerable and discreet person," 
Jean Lemaitre, of the Order of Preachers, Vice- 
Inquisitor of France, to become his yoke-fellow 
in judgment. The discreet man said he was 
quite willing to fulfill his duty as Vice-Inquisi- 
tor, but that Cauchon was judging a case out- 
side his own diocese, and in virtue of his dio- 
cesan authority. He did not see how this was 
quite correct. However, on the 20th he said 
that the bishop might go ahead, while he him- 
self -was waiting for the authorization of his 
principal, the Inquisitor. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

THERE are two parts in this Process, or 
course of legal proceedings against Joan. 
First, the examination of witnesses — the only 
one is the Maid herself — in order to incrim- 
inate her; this lasted from February 25th to 
Palm Sunday, March 25th ; and its purpose was 
to prepare, or procure, an indictment. Sec- 
ondly, we have the Process proper, which 
opened on the 27th of March with the charge, 
or indictment, of Estivet, contained in seventy 
Articles. This closed on May 24th in the cem- 
etery of Rouen by the condemnation of Joan 
to perpetual imprisonment on bread and water. 
On the 28th the trial re-begins as a process of 
relapse ; it was but the simulacre of a trial with 
judicial forms. 

On February 20th Massieu, the apparitor, 
was ordered to produce in court, ''the woman 
Jeanne, called the Maid, vehemently suspected 
of heresy for her notorious misdeeds against 
the Faith. ' ' Joan answered, says Massieu, that 
she would willingly appear — it was her only 
hope of getting out of prison — but she asked 
that an equal number of assessors be chosen 
from the French party with those from the An- 

274 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 275 

glo-Burgundian. This was refused; and her 
right to a defender, or legal advocate, was de- 
nied. She begged to be allowed to hear Mass 
before the trial began; but this, too, was re- 
fused, on the ground of her alleged crimes and 
the indecency of her male attire. On this same 
day Pope Martin V died in Rome. 

We may recall that the story of Joan's life 
is made up chiefly from her own declarations 
during this trial ; but the story of the trial itself 
is quite incomplete without the additional testi- 
mony of the thirty-four witnesses who tell of it 
at the second trial, or Rehabilitation. 

From the insults and hardships of her prison 
Joan -appears at her first interrogatory, in the 
royal chapel of the castle of Rouen at eight a. m. 
on February 21st. She sees before her forty- 
two assessors, all graduates in theology. Fif- 
teen are doctors; there are five graduates in 
civil and canon law; and five others are Benedic- 
tine abbots. The judge read the letter, pur- 
porting to be of the boy-king, giving Joan up to 
judgment ; then a document by which the chap- 
ter of Rouen undertook to give territorial jur- 
isdiction to Bishop Cauchon. The latter, ac- 
cording to his own account, summed up the 
charge, and bases his procedure on Joan's 
"many acts against the Faith," on the com- 
mand of the English boy-king, and on the coun- 
sel of the wise. He declared Joan's crimes 
were known throughout Christendom. The 
very opposite was true. He persistently called 



27G THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

her a mulier, a woman, in order not to give the 
common title of La Pucelle. Yet he knew she 
was a virgin warrior; the Countess of Bedford 
was his witness. The promoter of the Rehabil- 
itation trial declared that Cauchon forbade the 
notaries to write this testimony to Joan's stain- 
less purity. The arbitrary and illegal refusal 
of assistance at the Divine Offices to one who 
was not found guilty reveals the character of 
the judge and judgment. 

When asked to take on oath to answer truly, 
Joan paused. ' ' I know not what you will ask, ' ^ 
she said. ''You may ask things which I will 
not answer. My revelations to the king I will 
not tell to save my life. My apparitions, my 
secret counsel, tell me not to do so. In a week 
I will know what answer to give. ' ' This stead- 
fast loyalty, this noble independence, this heroic 
fortitude, we see in Joan all through the trial; 
just as we shall find ad nauseam the constant 
effort of the accusers to make Joan swear abso- 
lutely to reveal everything, and to submit un- 
conditionally to them, as not only her judges, 
but as representing the Church. Nor must we 
take the words written in the proces verbal as 
being always and exactly the words of Joan. 
An abridged form, a slight color of words, will 
give an answer which is unfair to the accused. 

With the understanding that she was only to 
tell what regarded her trial, and not revealed 
secrets, Joan took the oath kneeling, her two 
hands on the missal. Then she was asked 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 277 

about her parents, home, and childhood. She 
said her mother had taught her the Pater Nos- 
ter, Ave Maria and Credo; but when asked to 
'say the Our Father, ' ' I will, ' ' she answered, ' ' in 
confession.'* Paquerel, her confessor, testified 
that Joan confessed daily before her captivity. 
Toward the end of the session the judge said 
to Joan, ^'As bishop, I forbid you to leave the 
prison." *'I accept not this prohibition," she 
answered. ^'I have never given my word not 
to escape ; every prisoner has a right to do so. 
Oh, how much I suffer from the weight of these 
chains," she exclaimed. In a week, she said, 
she would have counsel ; and on the 1st of March 
it came with splendid prophecy. The bishop 
adds in his proces that he handed her over to 
the brutal guard. 

The session, or interrogatory, of February 
22nd was held at eight o'clock in the morning, 
in the presence of forty-eight assessors, in a 
room off the great hall of the castle. This 
room continued to be the usual place of meet- 
ing. Beaupere, an "eminent professor," ques- 
tioned Joan. She would answer only what re- 
garded the Faith. *'If you were well in- 
formed," she continued, "you should wish me 
out of your hands. I have done nothing but 
by revelation." To the question of age when 
she left home, however the question was put, 
she answered, "I cannot tell you." This was 
perhaps a protest very much abridged, as we 
know, from the witnesses, she often made. She 



278 THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

refused to tell why she assumed man's clothing; 
but acknowledged afterwards it was by coun- 
sel of her Voices. Then she recounted her rev- 
elations up to her stay at St. Denis, near Paris. 
''Did you attack Paris on a feast-day!" ''I 
thinli: it was a feast-day." ''Was that well 
done?" "Pass on." 

This session was tumultuous, according to the 
witnesses. There were many confused and 
confusing questions and interruptions. We 
have only a: skeleton resume of it. There was 
' ' a very great tumult ' ' says Manchon ; they in- 
terrupted nearly every word of Joan when she 
spoke of her apparitions. There were present, 
he continues, three or four secretaries of the 
English king, who wrote as they pleased the ex- 
planations of Joan; they omitted her defense, 
and everything favorable to her. Manchon 
then declared he would not act as notary in a 
trial of this kind. The place of session, he says, 
was changed, and the door was guarded by two 
English soldiers. Complaints, he continues, 
were made that he had not written the answers 
of Joan correctly. Cauchon and Estivet did 
their work spontaneously. The others were 
afraid to refuse. There was not one who did 
not tremble. Warwick and Cauchon were an- 
gry with Lafontaine and the two Dominicans, 
Ladvenu and de la Pierre, for their visit to 
Joan and exhortation to submit to the Church. 
The first escaped, and the other two were in 
danger. Houppeville was imprisoned for re- 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 279 

fusing to take part in the trial. Lemaitre was 
much displeased at his task, and took little part 
in the matter. Chatillon showed some interest 
in Joan's case, saying she was not obliged to 
answer, or some such word. There occurred 
thereupon ' ' a great tumult, ' ' and Cauchon per- 
emptorily told Chatillon to hold his tongnie. 
Another spoke to Joan, and gave her some ad- 
vice regarding submission to the Church, about 
which she was much confused. The bishop's 
reprimand was more emphatic: ''Hold your 
tongue in the name of the devil." So Manchon 
says. Another, by some kindly word, enraged 
the Earl of Stafford, who drew his sword, and 
pursued the man to a place of sanctuary. 

Manchon tells of Loyseleur's perfidious vis- 
its to Joan, feigning to be of her own country 
and cause. In the next room, the two notaries 
were made listen through an opening. War- 
wick and Cauchon told them to write Joan 's an- 
swers ; but Manchon objected. She was har- 
assed, he says, with questions daily for hours. 
She was very simple, and appeared unable of 
herself to meet her adversaries. She had a 
splendid memory; and when her foes changed 
and confused the questions, 'she would say, ''I 
have already answered." Neither Manchon 
nor his companion dared to make a correction 
in the XII Articles, which were pointed out to 
be faulty and unfair. The whole Process was 
written out only after Joan's death. Yet upon 
the Articles were based the deliberations of the 



280 THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

University of Paris, and of the Norman clergy. 
In the beginning, when Joan was questioned, 
concealed notaries — ^amongst them Loyseleur — 
wrote as they pleased. Between Manchon and 
the other notaries there was so much difference 
in the proces, that "a great discussion" arose 
over the matter. For five or six days, at the 
beginning of the trial, the judges spoke to Man- 
chon in Latin, telling him to change what he 
had written. The three most opposed to Joan, 
in the questioning, adds Manchon, were Beau- 
pere, Midi, and Touraine. 

On the 24th of February there was a large 
assembly — sixty-three assessors — in the same 
room, off the great hall. Again Cauchon ad- 
monished Joan to answer all questions truly. 
She qualified her testimony as before. She 
warned the judge of the character of his work, 
and complained of her distress. It was enough, 
she said, to swear twice in one trial. Cauchon 
made the demand for an absolute oath no less 
than six or seven times; and Joan at length 
agreed to answer fully all that concerned the 
trial. ' ' All the clergy of Paris and Rouen can- 
not condemn me without any right," she pro- 
tested. "I have been sent by God. I have 
nothing to do here." We have only an outline 
of this important session, in which, very prob- 
ably, Joan uttered the words in which she re- 
jected Cauchon as her ' 'mortal enemy. " ' * The 
king has appointed me," he retorted; ''and I 
will judge." The king was a boy, and the 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 281 

bishop was one of the chief members of the 
council ; that is to say, he appointed himself. 

In answer to Beaupere Joan said she had not 
tasted food or drink from the afternoon of the 
preceding day; it was Lent, and she observed 
the ancient rigorous fast. ''How long since 
you heard your Voices ?' ' ' * To-day and yester- 
day I heard them.^^ ''At what hour yester- 
day!" "Three times — in the morning, at the 
hour of Vespers, and at the evening Ave Ma- 
ria." The Voices awaked her, and she sat up, 
and joined her hands to thank God. They told 
her to answer boldly in her trial. Again she 
warned the judge of his danger of doing injus- 
tice, and of his punishment ; for she was sent by 
God. "Did the Voice tell you not to answer!" 
"I won't tell you. If the Voice told me not to 
reveal, what have you people to do with it! I 
have much more fear of displeasing the Voices 
than of displeasing you." "Is God displeased 
if you tell the truth ! " " The Voices told me to 
reveal certain things to the king, not to you. 
Last night I was told many things for his good ; 
and I wish he knew them, though I should have 
to go without wine until Easter. He would be 
much happier at his dinner." The examina- 
tion pushing questions about the Voices, she de- 
clined to answer. "Are you in grace!" "If 
not, may God put me in it. Nothing on earth 
would pain me more than not to be in it. If I 
were in sin, I believe the Voices would not 
come. ' ' There were questions about her child- 



282 THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

hood, the May tree, etc. ''Would you like to 
have woman's dress?" ''Give it to me, and I 
will go away. Otherwise I will not take it. I 
am content as I am. God wishes it so." 

On February 27th, fifty-four assessors were 
present in the usual place. There is the self- 
same insistance ad nauseam on answering 
everything that will be asked. Joan returns 
her usual answer. "You ought to be content," 
she said. "I have sworn enough." Beaupere 
asked how she had been since the last session. 
"I have been as well as I could expect," she 
replied. ' ' Have you fasted each day in Lent f ' ' 
"Does that concern your Process?" "It 
does." "Yes. I have fasted all the Lent." 
Asked again, as ever, about her Voices, she said 
she had heard them in the court-room, and 
again on entering her prison. She would an- 
swer only by consultation with her heavenly 
visitors. Warwick himself and Cauchon ex- 
pressed, according to Manchon, their admira- 
tion at her manner of speaking of her Voices 
and their revelations. "Was it Our Lord told 
you to take male attire?" "That is a small 
matter, ' ' she replied ; " it is a point of little im- 
portance. It was no one on earth told me." 

There was much questioning over her sword 
and banner, all to prove her guilty of super- 
stition. Her brothers, she said, were in posses- 
sion of her last sword, her horses, and things 
which were hers, valued in all at twelve thou- 
sand crowns. 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 283 

The session of March 1st was particularly 
interesting because of the startling prophecies 
made by Joan. There were fifty-eight assess- 
ors present. We have recurring constantly 
the question of an unconditional oath. "As 
regards the Process, I will tell the truth/' said 
Joan, "as if I were before the Pope of Rome." 
"What do you think of him! Is he the true 
Pope?" "Are there two!" she cleverly asked. 
Then she was questioned regarding the mes- 
sage from Count Armagnac. "As for me," 
concluded Joan, "I believe in the Pope of Rome, 
and obey him." After the reading of her let- 
ter to the king of England, she said, "Before 
seven years the English will lose a greater 
pledge than Orleans. They will lose all that 
they have in France. They will suffer a 
greater loss than ever was seen in France, by a 
great victory sent by God to the French. ... I 
wish it would come before St. John" (the time 
of her promised deliverance). She probably 
said more; the Process seems elliptical. "Did 
you say it would come before St. Martin's 
Day?" "I said you will see many things be- 
fore St. Martin. It may be that England will 
bite the dust. ' ' Paris was taken five years and 
forty-three days after. The great victory of 
Castillon was won on July 17th, 1453, the twen- 
ty-fourth anniversary of the crowning at 
Rheims. All but Calais was lost to the Eng- 
lish. Here there are omissions, apparently, 
and disorder in the Process. Perhaps she an- 



284 THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 

nounced the capture of Eouen; it occurred a 
little before St. Martin's Day, several years 
later. D 'Anion, her faithful guardian, figured 
prominently at the taking of Rouen and the 
royal entry into Paris. He held the bridle of 
the king's horse, as if representing Joan. Her 
Saints told her the king would have his king- 
dom in spite of his foes. Yet another promise 
there was — she would tell it before three 
months — her Saints promise to lead her to 
Heaven by a great victory. *^I would die," 
she said, ' ' were it not for the revelation which 
comforts me daily. ' ' 

The harassing cross-examination, ever recur- 
ring, about the sign she had given to the king, 
about his crowning, and the revelations made 
regarding him, forced her, in order to conceal 
her secret, to give an allegorical answer, speak- 
ing of a crown a thousand times richer than 
that of Rheims, to be given him if he waited. 

On the 3rd of March there were forty-one 
assessors. And there were some important 
new ones. These were the deputies sent by the 
University of Paris to the 'Council of Basle, 
which opened on this very day. Notwithstand- 
ing the extreme partisan zeal of the University 
in Church matters, the deputies went out of 
their way, and were late for the Council, for the 
sake of helping in the condemnation of Joan 
of Arc. 

In this session there was much drivel about 
superstition, the mandrake plant, the appear- 




STATUE OF JOAX OF ARC. BV ClIAl'U 



THE EXAMINATION OF JOAN 285 

ance and clothing of the Saints. Again efforts 
to prove the superstitious use of the banner, 
sword, etc. Her frequent answer is, "I have 
told you before. Pass on. This regards not 
your Process." They question every event 
and scene of her life — regarding the reverence 
of the people, the child at Lagny, the hackney 
of the Bishop of Senlis, Friar Richard, Cather- 
ine of La Rochelle, Beaurevoir. The Bishop's 
hackney was taken without Joan's approval. 
It was paid for; and, in fact, sent back; because 
it was useless for the campaigns. 



CHAPTEE XXXIV 

A CHANGE OF PROCEDURE 

WHEN Joan had gone out from the session 
of March 3rd, Bishop Cauchon an- 
nounced his purpose to have an abridgment of 
the case written. Up to this, Joan stood well, 
and had won the admiration of a prejudiced 
audience. A Dominican remarked that he had 
never heard a woman of her years cause so 
much embarrassment to her examiners. ^'A 
great English lord exclaimed, 'How well she 
speaks ! She is a good woman. Why is she 
not English?' " Even Loyseleur was struck 
with admiration. 

Six days were taken to prepare a summary 
of the case in the house of Caiaphas (Cauchon). 
Fontaine was deputed to take his place. Of 
this summary we know nothing. 

On the 10th of March, there were only two 
chosen assessors, Midi and Feuillet; and there 
was a change of tone in the Process. The ses- 
sion was held in Joan's prison. There were 
questions about Compiegne. Did they ring the 
bells when she went out on the sortie? Did the 
Voices tell her to go! Again comes up the 
standard. Joan gives us some interesting in- 

286 



A CHANGE OF PROCEDURE 287 

formation. She rode over the bridge at Com- 
piegne on what she calls a demi-coursier — a 
half -charger, or war-horse. But she had five 
coursers and more than seven riding horses. 
They were given by her king or his people. 
Her king had given ten or twelve thousand sol- 
diers. But there was very little need of money 
for the war. 

In this session Joan said, that, on the prom- 
ise of her Voices, she would free the Duke of 
Orleans before three years, if not hindered. 
She explained that she would take so many 
prisoners — and she asked her king for leave to 
do so — that she could ransom or exchange him. 
If not, she would go to England to negotiate the 
matter. 

On March 13th, in the prison session the name 
of the Dominican Lemaitre, the Vice-Inquisitor, 
appears with that of Cauchon. Henceforth, the 
acts of the trial are in the name of both. The 
everlasting question of the sign to the king and 
the mystical crown comes up again. Here Joan 
says that the promises made to the king of 
France were conditional, depending on his giv- 
ing the means of accomplishment to Joan. Her 
consistency and prudence, especially in view of 
her circumstances, are extraordinary. She 
puts off insidious questions ; she gives general 
answers, etc. Says Father Ayroles, ^'Nothing 
shows better the inspiration of Joan in her 
trial than her answers regarding the sign given 
to the king, her numerous prophecies, and her 



288 A CHANGE OF PROCEDURE 

conformity of thought and speech with the 
spirit of the Church in the matter of revela- 
tions." The examiners introduced irrelevant, 
annoying questions ; but she answered, '*I know 
nothing of these things." 

On the 14th of March, she speaks of Beaure- 
voir and Compiegne. Her Saints come each 
day in light. The noise around her and the dis- 
order of the guard prevent her hearing. She 
asked her heavenly counselors for three things 
— success in her expedition, help from G-od for 
France, especially to keep the faithful towns; 
and her own salvation. Wearied, she asks a 
copy of the Process if she is to be sent to Paris, 
in order to escape ''the annoyance" of so many 
questions at another trial. 

She believed that her Saints, when they spoke 
of her martyrdom, referred to her torture in 
prison and on trial. Her statement, that she 
believed most firmly the promise of salvation 
made by the Saints, brought the question of the 
possibility of her sinning any more. Of that, 
she said she knew nothing ; she left the matter 
to Our Lord. It depended, she said, on her 
keeping her vow, and dispensed from no pre- 
caution to avoid sin. This revelation of her 
life, virtues, motives, is a perfect picture. 

On the 15th of March came up the question 
of submission to the Church. There was no 
reason for it; Joan had ever been most faith- 
ful and submissive. It was a snare and one of 
the worst. The Church, for the University of 



A CHANGE OF PROCEDURE 289 

Paris, was the University of Paris itself. Read 
its pompous and unceasing self-praise. For 
the University of Paris there was nothing on 
earth equal to the University of Paris. It 
toiled hard and persistently to make the Pope 
submit to ''the Church." It took an efficient 
hand in the creation of antipopes and schismat- 
ical Councils. Possibly, some of the doctors at 
Rouen, and those who stood in awe or fear of 
them, thought that the representatives of the 
University were really the representatives of 
the Church. Joan of Arc knew better — to her 
cost. For her, many, at least, of the men of 
the illustrious University were, as she said, her 
mortal enemies. She referred them to Poi- 
tiers. There she had been approved by the na- 
tional Church of France. At Rouen, she was 
chained amidst vile soldiers, and her blood was 
eagerly sought by a band of unworthy church- 
men, who were, in her eyes, and in fact, a lot of 
Anglo-Burgundian traitors. Now, if these men 
were the Church, or really represented it, it 
was clear that Joan would have to renounce 
her mission, declare all her heavenly messages 
to be diabolical, betray her country and the 
people that she loved. She loved France for its 
Christian mission more than for itself. For 
this reason, her king was sacred in her eyes — 
an administrator of the country for Christ. 
This renunciation she dare not make ; her pas- 
chal communion could not be made under such 
a condition. But if she denied not what she 



290 A CHANGE OP PBOCEDURE 

knew to be true, and renounced not what she 
knew to be sacred, she would be found guilty 
by the Church of Rouen. If she denied that 
this was the Church, so much the worse for her. 

Joan, with great wisdom, renounced every- 
thing that there might be against the Christian 
faith in her words and acts. ''We demand," 
said her judges, "that you now submit to the 
Church all your acts and words." "I will an- 
swer no more for the present, ' ' replied the pru- 
dent Joan. They confused, and in fact de- 
ceived, her by the distinction between two 
Churches^ — triumphant and militant. She was 
certainly having a rough experience of the 
Church militant. She said she understood not 
the distinction. "I wish to submit to the 
Church as a good Christian, ' ' affirmed the loyal 
and prudent Maiden. 

She desired to hear Mass ; that was Catholic 
enough. "Would she prefer to retain male at- 
tire than to hear Mass?" "Assure me," she 
said, "that I can hear Mass; then I will an- 
swer." They promised if she put on woman's 
dress. "Make me a dress long, down to the 
ground," she continued, "and I will hear Mass; 
then I will take man's dress again." "Would 
you take absolutely woman's dress to hear 
Mass?" Mark how insidious the question! 
"I will ask counsel in this," she replied; "but 
I beg for the honor of God and Our Lady to 
let me hear Mass in this good city. Make me 
the dress of a bourgeois'' daughter, and I will 



A CHANGE OF PROCEDURE 291 

hear Mass. Tlien I will beg you as mucli as I 
can to let me retain my own (male attire) and 
so hear Mass." She declared that Our Lord 
told her to wear man's dress. 

Cauchon, to humiliate her and discredit or 
deny her mission, offered her the garments of 
a Lorraine peasant girl. Joan had been ac- 
cepted by her king and ennobled. She had had 
him crowned, and she was rapidly, as an envoy 
of Heaven, winning back his kingdom. She 
saw through Cauchon 's mean trick, and asked 
the garment of a bourgeois' daughter. This 
was modesty ; she deserved that of a noble. 

Again on March 17th, there is a return, as 
usual, to the angelic visions,' and the stupidity 
of the question, ^'Will you submit to the 
Church?" ''As to the Church," said Joan, "I 
love it, and would sustain with all my power 
the Christian faith. I should not be kept from 
going to the church and hearing Mass. As for 
the good works I have done, I have to look to 
Heaven for them. ' ' Then she adds a prophecy 
of a great event coming which will shake nearly 
all France — like her own great deeds. She 
does not speak of a victory here, but refers to 
the treaty of Arras, which was to take place 
four years and a half after, and by which Bur- 
gundy would be detached from the English in- 
vaders. 

Poor Joan! She had learned the hard les- 
son, that the salvation of France and French- 
men depended, in part at least, on themselves. 



292 A CHANGE OF PKOCEDURE 

But she did not yet fully understand, as lier 
Great Master did, what it was to be slain for 
the truth ; and still less, what it was to be called 
a blasphemer, being true, and this by Church- 
men. 

The testimony of the witnesses is true; that 
her examiners meant to utterly harass poor 
Joan with idiotic repetition of the same ques- 
tions, in conjunction with the outrages of her 
prison. It is astonishing they did not apply 
torture. It was proposed by Cauchon ; but only 
two or three were in favor of it. Again, in this 
session Joan has to hear, "Will you submit to 
the Church?" As to the Church militant and 
the Church triumphant, she said, ' ' In my opin- 
ion they are but one — Our Lord and the Church. 
Why do you make a difficulty about this 1 ' ' Her 
theology was immeasurably sounder than that 
of the University of Paris, which created the 
schismatical Council of Basle, condemned the 
Ecumenical Council of Florence, and even re- 
jected the decisions of its own antipopes. 

They explain, or pretend to explain, the 
Church militant and triumphant. Joan sub- 
mits to God and His Saints. As for the Church 
militant, she answers, ' ' Not yet ! ' ^ She added, 
though, "I would rather die than disobey Our 
Lord, and I believe He would not let me fall so 
low, even if a miracle were required. For 
nothing in the world will I swear not to take 
arms and not to take male attire, and this is to 
please Our Lord. If you make me disrobe in 



A CHANGE OF PEOCEDURE 293 

trial (they had done it before ; the Countess of 
Bedford knew), I demand of the ministers of 
the Church a long female robe/^ 

She would not renounce her mission, Heaven- 
appointed. To change her manner of dress 
would mean such renouncement in the eyes of 
her Anglo-Burgundian captors and judges. 
She would obey her Lord first, even though it 
cost her life. At the stake she consecrated and 
sealed her mission, as He did on the Cross. 

In another long evening session, Joan ap- 
pealed to the Pope. That this lovely picture, 
painted by herself and copied by her foes, 
should have been committed to history, testified 
by oath, her own and that of a cloud of eye- 
witnesses, is unparalleled in the annals of hu- 
manity. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

BETWEEN THE EXAMINATION AND THE TEIAL 

T the end of Joan's examination, the case 
for the prosecution was complete. She 
had been subjected to fifteen harassing inter- 
rogatories, and now she fell so ill that two phy- 
sicians, Typhaine and de la Chambre, were 
brought from Paris. The indictment gives a 
summary of four sessions held during Passion 
Week; but there are no minutes of them. 
Bishop Cauchon reunited his assessors to form 
a charge. Only six or seven seances were fol- 
lowed by all of these, except Midi, Touraine, 
and Feuillet. Extracts made from the evidence 
had been prepared, the judge announced; and 
would be distributed f or .<?onsideration. What 
they were, and by whom, we know not. 

On the 22nd of March, there were present, in 
the house of the bishop, twenty-two doctors and 
other graduates in theology, amongst them sev- 
eral religious — Carmelites, Dominicans, Fran- 
ciscans, also Hayton. It was resolved to put 
the extracts in the forms of articles of indict- 
ment, for more mature deliberation. At the 
close, the bishop added, ''With the help of God, 
we hope to proceed in such a manner that the 
case will be carried on to the glory of God and 

294 



BETWEEN THE EXAMINATION AND THE TEIALi 295 

the exaltation of the Faith, without any defect 
in its procedure." Amen, Joan might have re- 
sponded. All this procedure, however, allowed 
Cauchon to prepare the accusation as he 
pleased. 

On Saturday, 24th, there was a smaller num- 
ber of assessors in the prison, with the two 
judges. The whole Process was read to Joan 
by Manchon, Estivet offering to prove if Joan 
should deny. She was put under oath, not to 
add anything but what was true to her former 
answers. Then she asked to have all read with- 
out interruption — she had had enough — and to 
consider as correct what she would not deny. 
She added a word or so, here and there; for 
instance, that she would go home if she got 
woman's dress; afterwards, she would see what 
was best. 

On the 25th March, Palm Sunday, Cauchon 
and four others went to the prison. Joan 
begged for Mass, because of the solemn days of 
Holy Week, and to receive Communion. The 
old condition of dress came up, and Cauchon 
offered her peasant attire. She said she was 
not allowed to change her dress. The stupid 
judge who demanded it should have put her 
somewhere else than with unrestrained, im- 
moral soldiers, who were her deadly foes. He 
insisted upon the change of dress ; but Joan said 
she could not change it, even for the favor of 
Holy Communion. She wished to do the Eas- 
ter duty, and in woman's dress if they wished; 



296 BETWEEN THE EXAMINATION AND THE TRIAL 

but she would not definitely renounce her usual 
clothing — and this through sheer necessity of 
protecting herself from indecent violence, and 
in order not to disavow or renounce her mission 
at the bidding of the traitorous foes of her coun- 
try, and finally because Our Lord forbade her to 
change. 

This session is to be vehemently suspected. 
We have no minutes of it. The most was made 
against Joan of her alleged refusal to renounce 
male attire even for the sake of performing her 
Easter duty. Finally, the only witnesses in the 
case were foes. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

THE TRIAL 

THERE were preliminaries on Monday in 
Holy Week, March 26tli, in the house of 
Cauchon, as, long ago, in the case of Judas, in 
the house of Caiaphas. The Vice-Inquisitor 
was present, with the six Masters of Paris, with 
Chatillon, Fontaine, Marguerie, Venderes, Loy- 
seleur, all in the views of the presiding prelate. 
The trial proper was decided on ; and the arti- 
cles prepared were to be read to Joan. 

On March 27th there were thirty-eight assess- 
ors present, amongst them two English priests, 
Brewster and Hayton. Estivet brought in Joan, 
who was to be excommunicated if she did not 
answer, and under oath. Then he, being sworn, 
declared that, not hatred, but pure love of the 
Faith made him propose the articles of indict- 
ment. Joan thanked the bishop for his alleged 
desire of her good (in his speech to her), and 
she thanked him and all for what they said 
about the Faith. She expressed her gratitude 
for their offer of a counsel, or advocate, now, 
at last ; but she declined the favor, she knew its 
purpose, declaring that she would not depart 
from the counsel of her Lord. 

Courcelles read the charge to Joan, i. e., the 

297 



298 THE TRIAL 

seventy heads of accusation. It has been re- 
marked, that, in the two sessions of the 27th 
and 28th of March, one could not have read the 
whole composition which it had taken fifteen 
interrogatories to prepare. In the charge ac- 
tually read, or rather actually written, we find 
answers given by Joan on the 31st of March 
and the 18th of April ! The indictment is really 
an accusation without basis of proof. In the 
closing words of the exordium, the judges are 
called upon to condemn Joan as a sorceress, a 
heretic, and a blasphemer. The two physi- 
cians, Tiphaine and de la Chambre, are present 
as assessors, which seems to show that Joan 
was yet very ill. 

The first article proclaims the right of the tri- 
bunal. Joan answered that the Pope, the Bish- 
ops, and other ecclesiastics, were the defenders 
of the Faith — ''But as to me," she continued, 
''in what concerns my acts, I submit to the 
Church of Heaven, to God, the Blessed Virgin, 
and the Saints of Paradise. I believe I have 
not failed in the Christian faith nor do I wish to 
fail." In the original French, we have "I de- 
mand," followed by a line. Here, it appears 
certain, must be placed Joan's appeal to the 
General Council of the Church, at the recom- 
mendation of Manchon, La Pierre, and Lad- 
venu, who went to the prison to instruct her in 
the meaning of the "Church." Fontaine dis- 
appeared soon after, and La Pierre was in dan- 



THE TRIAL 299 

ger; nor does he come on the scene again until 
the 12th of April. 

In this session, thirty of the seventy articles 
were read. Joan denied each charge, or refers 
to what she said before, or appeals to Our Lord, 
and sometimes adds a word of explanation. 

On March 28th, Wednesday in Holy Week, 
the remaining forty articles were read in pres- 
ence of twenty-five assessors. The seventieth 
article declares that "all these facts are true, 
notorious, manifest. . . . The accused has re- 
peatedly avowed them." Joan denied this ar- 
ticle, and referred to what she had said before. 
The articles contained the most absurd state- 
ments about Baudricourt, Catherine de la Eo- 
chelle, etc., without any foundation whatsoever. 

After the session of Tuesday in Holy Week, 
extreme threats were made against Fontaine, 
La Pierre, Manchon, and Massieu. On Holy 
Saturday, March 31st, there is a return to the 
question of submission to the Church. The 
only Church from which there was the slightest 
hope of justice or aid for poor Joan in that 
dark hour, as she well knew, was the Church of 
Heaven, to which she had appealed. In this 
session of March 31st, she declares she will sub- 
mit if she be not asked impossibilities; that is, 
to deny her life, revelations, and deeds. **If 
the Church commands what is against God's 
command, I will not obey. ' ' The only Church 
capable of such a command was the Church of 
Eouen. "If the Church militant," she contin- 



300 THE TEIAL 

ued, ' ' tells me my revelations and acts are dia- 
bolical, I leave it to Our Lord. " ' ' Do you obey 
the Pope and prelates of the Church I" ''I 
do." The ecclesiastical lawyers of the Reha- 
bilitation found Joan's answers in this matter 
irreproachable. Her false judges wanted her 
to consider them as the Church and allow them 
to condemn her, and make her retract. 

The physician de la Chambre testified under 
oath to Warwick's desire to have Joan's life 
saved for her burning. She cost much, the 
Earl said; he would not have her die a natural 
death. He objected to bleeding, lest she should 
commit suicide. Joan was bled, however; and 
improved. Estivet came in afterwards, de la 
Chambre says, and called Joan vile names, 
which irritated her extremely, so that she re- 
lapsed into fever, and the physician forbade the 
immoral scoundrel to abuse her. De la Cham- 
bre remembered Joan's denial to the bishop 
that he was her judge. 

On Easter Monday, April 2nd, and the two 
following days, the XII Articles were drawn up. 
The judges of the Rehabilitation brand them as 
* 'false, perfidious, calumnious, fraudulently 
composed on a pretended juridical examination, 
and on the alleged answers of the accused. ' ' 

On the 18th of April, an attempt was made to 
have Joan make a retractation. She was ill 
in the prison — so ill that she believed herself 
in danger of death, and begged for Confession, 
Holy Communion ('*her Saviour," she said), 



THE TEIAL 301 

and burial in holy ground. Cauchon and 
others pressed submission to the Church; that 
is, to them, who had condemned her. She pro- 
claimed her faith in the Church and her love 
for it. 

Next Beaupere, Touraine, Midi, and Feuillet, 
were dispatched with the XII Articles to Paris, 
provided with a document bearing the name of 
the English boy-Mng, in which he was said to 
send them ^'to his beloved daughter, the Uni- 
versity of Paris," and ordered all expenses 
paid. They were sent, be it noted, not only to 
the University, but also to Bedford and to the 
members of the royal council that happened 
to be in Paris. 

The session of May 2nd was more solemn, ap- 
parently, and longer than any preceding. 
There were sixty-four assessors, and, all told, 
probably seventy persons. Cauchon sums up 
the march of the trial, and asserts that "the ob- 
ject of all their desires" was to make Joan re- 
tract. Hitherto, all had been in vain. But 
now, before so solemn a gathering, they thought 
there might be more hope. Jean de Chatillon, 
Archdeacon of Evreux, recalled certain more 
important heads of fault. Chatillon exhorted 
Joan to correct her errors, according to the ad- 
vice of the doctors. '^Eead your book (finish 
your harangue)," she said, "and I will answer. 
I leave all to God my Creator. I love Him with 
my whole heart." Again the idiotic "Will you 
submit to the Church f" "I believe sincerely 



302 THE TEIAL 

the Church here below," she replied; ''but 
my acts I leave to God. I believe the 
Church cannot err or fail. I submit to God, 
who commanded me to do what I have done." 
"Have you no judge on earth? Is the Pope 
not your judge!" ''I will tell you no more (it 
was as superfluous as useless, she knew). I 
have a good Master, Our Lord." ''If you do 
not submit to the Church you are a heretic." 
"I will tell you no more, even if in sight of the 
fire." "Would j^ou not submit to the Pope, 
Council, Cardinals, if they were here?" "You 
will have no more." "Do you wish to submit 
to the Pope?" It would have been capital for 
them if she said no. But she replied, "Bring 
me to him, and I will answer him." We have 
here a truncated text for our information, as 
appears from its form, abbreviations, etc. 

The question of dress came up again. Will 
she not change for Holy Communion? She an- 
swers she will change for Holy Communion, if 
immediately she may resume her male attire. 
She would wear it until her mission be accom- 
plished. We may suppose from the words in 
the original French that other reasons were 
given. The next question was a clever one. 
' ' Would you submit to the Church of Poitiers ? ' ' 
She answered, ' ' Do you wish to take me in this 
way, and draw me to you?" "To you" is 
probably emphatic ; they would add, ' ' Have not 
we as much right to judge as the ecclesiastics 
of Poitiers?" 



THE TBIAL. 303 

Joan told them, that, the day of the Holy 
Cross (May 3rd), St. Gabriel came to comfort 
her. This occurred probably after the last in- 
terrogatory, on the eve of the feast. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

THE QUESTION OF TORTURE 

IT was the eve of the Ascension, the 9th of the 
sweet May month when Joan was made to 
contemplate the instruments of torture then in 
use. It was the anniversary of the beginning 
of her career at Vaucouleurs — her first meeting 
with Robert de Baudrioourt. On this day be- 
gan her first and greatest victory at Orleans, 
when she took the fort of St. Loup. It was the 
anniversary of her capture at Compiegne; and 
probably of her first vision at Domremy. Her 
old friends were present with Bishop Cauchon 
— Erard, Loyseleur, Hayton, and three or four 
others, with the apparitor in charge of the in- 
struments of torture. This was Parmentier, 
who was not a priest. With him was his assist- 
ant. The scene was in the great tower. Par- 
mentier and several others testified afterwards, 
that it was the common saying of the people of 
Rouen, that all the evil done to Joan came solely 
from English and Burgundian hatred of her. 
In the tower, then, Joan was told, that she 
had concealed many things ; let her consider the 
danger of torture. She answered, "If you dis- 
locate my members, and make my soul leave my 

304 



THE QUESTION OF TORTURE 305 

body, I will tell you nothing. If I were to say 
anything else, I would tell you you had it by 
torture. ' ' She had asked her Saints about sub- 
mission to the church of the ecclesiastics who 
urged such submission. The Voices assured 
her that her Lord was the judge of all her mis- 
sion ; let her look to Him. She had asked her 
Voices if she will be burned. They answered, 
that she must leave the matter to her Lord — 
''He will aid." 

''Will you submit to the archbishop of 
Rheimsf" A strange question! Had they 
been in communication with him I He certainly 
was, with the Burgundians, and probably with 
the English. "Bring him here," said Joan; 
' ' he will not venture to deny what I have said. ' ^ 
She would not disavow her career — Voila le 
noeud! This was the Gordian knot Cauchon 
was trying to get her to cut. At the end of the 
session, he thought that, for the moment, tor- 
ture would be useless, and so put it off. 

On May 12th the bishop asked the opinion of 
twelve assessors in his own house. Only three 
were for torture, Loyseleur, Courcelles and 
Morel ; the idea, therefore, was given up. 

Now were dispatched three Parisian doctors 
to the University, which approved of all that 
had been said and done. The distinguished 
seat of learning praised the manner of the trial, 
and writing to the king and Cauchon, urged the 
hastening of the sentence and its execution ; de- 
lay would be dangerous; all western Christen- 



306 THE QUESTION OF TORTURE 

dom had become infected by this woman Joan. 
Two of the messengers were remunerated with 
additional canonries in Rouen — Beaupere on 
September 30th, 1430, Midi on May 31st, 1431. 
This decision, or approval, of the University 
justified every excess, and it was unhesitat- 
ingly accepted at Rouen. 

On the 23rd of May, Wednesday in Pentecost 
week, Cauchon and Lemaitre went to the room 
adjoining Joan's prison. Amongst the assess- 
ors was Louis of Luxembourg, bishop of Ther- 
ouanne, brother of John de Luxembourg, who 
had sold Joan. Pierre Maurice read the indict- 
ment without stopping, so that Joan could 
speak only at the end. She merely repeated 
her determination not to disavow her revela- 
tions or her career. Thereupon, the judge an- 
nounced that the sentence would be passed on 
the morrow. It was the twenty-fourth inter- 
rogatory. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

THE PEBTENDED ABJURATION" 

ALL. the solemn trial of Joan had resulted 
in nothing but an admirable revelation of 
her character and life. To achieve at least his 
first purpose — ^that of discrediting Joan and 
Charles VII — Bishop Cauchon must make Joan 
deny her mission and revelations and abjure her 
acts. This is what he endeavored to do on May 
24th. 

The promoter, or defender, of the cause of 
Joan at the trial of Rehabilitation affirmed that 
the abjuration of Joan was prepared before- 
hand. The scene was in the cemetery at 
Rouen — a curious place. Two platforms were 
erected. On the one reserved for the ecclesias- 
tics there were five bishops, Cardinal Beaufort, 
de Luxembourg, de Mailly of Noyon, William 
Andwick, Bishop of Norwich in England, and 
guardian of the king's private seal, and His 
Lordship of Beauvais. With these were eight 
abbots, two priors, twenty-seven graduates in 
theology or law, and many others. On the sec- 
ond platform was Joan and Erard, who was to 
preach violently at her. His text was from St. 
John XV, ''The branch cannot bear fruit of it- 
self, unless it abide in the vine." Joan, he 

307 



308 THB PRETENDED ABJURATION 

said, by crimes and errors manifold was sepa- 
rated from the vine; that is, the Church. 
There is only a short and dry analysis of the 
sermon in Manchon's minutes. Richer, an au- 
thority, who had read the original text charac- 
terizes it as "full of impostures and violence." 
At the end, the preacher turned to Joan, and 
said, ''Here are Messeigneurs the judges, who 
have often demanded your submission to the 
Church regarding your deeds and words." ''I 
will answer," replied the courageous Joan. 
*'In what concerns my submission to the 
Church, I have told them to submit all my words 
and deeds to Rome, to our Holy Father the 
Pope, to whom, after God, I appeal. My words 
and acts have been inspired by God." ''Will 
you retract what is found blameworthy in your 
words and acts?" "I refer the matter to God 
and our Holy Father the Pope." "That is not 
enough," said Erard. Be his words noted 
well: "We cannot interrupt the trial to seek 
the Pope so far away. The bishops are also 
judges in their own dioceses. You must submit 
to our Holy Mother the Church and people here 
in their judgment on your acts and words." 
Erard unmasks the whole matter ; nothing could 
be clearer. "And, thereupon, Joan received a 
triple admonition." Then, says the written ac- 
count of the trial, when the reading of the sen- 
tence began, Joan declared she wished to obey 
in what the Church and the judges demanded^ 
and made an abjuration substantially as fol- 



THE PBETENDED ABJUEATIOIsi 309 

lows : since the men of the Church said her rev- 
elations were false, she did not wish further to 
believe them, but left all to the judges and Holy 
Mother Church. The French translation says, 
that when Bishop Cauchon had read the greater 
part of the sentence handing Joan over to the 
secular arm, that is to death, she spoke of sub- 
mitting to the judges; that she then repeated 
the abjuration such as we find it in the Process ; 
and that she signed it with her own hand. 
These things are not in the minutes of the 
affair ; and it is clear they give no true idea of 
what happened. The story of the witnesses is 
quite different. 

Bishop Cauchon had come with two written 
sentences; one delivering Joan to the civil 
power, i. e., to fire, if she did not retract ; the 
other, condemning her to perpetual imprison- 
ment, if she retracted. The English, who 
thought the trial excessively long, expected to 
have Joan handed over to them on that day. 
It would seem that there were a great many in 
the assembly who believed her innocent. The 
bishop, perhaps, would not venture to hand her 
over to death against the opinion and wish of 
the crowd. 

According to the testimony of Massieu, 
Erard presented to Joan a formula of abjura- 
tion, while she protested she understood not 
what abjuration meant, and said she would ask 
counsel regarding it. Witnesses tell of the 
preacher's long-continued efforts to make Joan 



310 THE PRETENDED ABJURATION 

consent in order to save her life. Those around 
cried out to her to do as she was told and save 
herself. Loyseleur, who had treacherously 
gained her confidence, acknowledged after- 
wards, that, as Joan was ascending the plat- 
form, he advised her to take woman's dress as 
she was ordered ; that it would do no harm ; oth- 
erwise, she should die. Joan resisted long. 
Boisguillaume and La Chambre testified that 
she did not know what the abjuration meant. 
A great murmur meanwhile arose in the crowd. 
Bishop Cauchon read slowly, and made a long 
pause before concluding; so that many of the 
audience complained of the delay, and of his 
wish to receive the abjuration. According to 
Bishop de Mailly, who was present, Lawrence 
Calot, a clergyman in the suite of Cardinal 
Beaufort, publicly accused Bishop Cauchon of 
favoring Joan. According to Manchon, Calot 
called the bishop a traitor. The bishop called 
him a liar, and demanded instant reparation, 
and threw down his paper on the ground. Ac- 
cording to Massieu, Joan finally said, ^'I leave 
all to the universal Church; if the clergy and 
the Church tell me I should sign the paper, I 
will do so. " ^' Sign immediately, ' ' said Erard : 
"if not, you will end your life to-day in the 
flames." The executioner was near, his wagon 
loaded with wood for the fire ; he was awaiting 
the handing over of the victim. Joan an- 
swered, according to Massieu, that she pre- 
ferred to sign rather than be burned. Then 



THE PRETENDED ABJUEATION 311 

Bishop Cauchon asked Cardinal Beaufort what 
to do; and he answered, ^^ Admit her to pen- 
ance." The bishop laid aside the first sentence, 
and took np the second. According to Massieu, 
Erard offered a formula of abjuration to Joan ; 
but Aymond de Macy says Calot drew it out of 
his own sleeve. Massieu read the words, and 
Joan repeated. Then a great tumult arose ; the 
English were enraged, and Joan's friends re- 
joiced; in consequence ^'many stones were 
thrown. ' ' De Macy states that Joan for signa- 
ture made a sort of circle in mockery; then 
Calot took her hand and made her write some- 
thing, what it was, he did not remember; but 
in the Process it is the name Jehanne >i*, fol- 
lowed by a cross. ''I do not remember," said 
Manchon, ''that the abjuration was ever ex- 
plained or shown to Joan beforehand." Bois- 
guillaume agrees with him, and believes she did 
not understand the formula. If signed, it was 
signed through fear — not freely. Massieu as- 
sures us she understood neither the formula nor 
the danger she was in. Even in the story of the 
Process, she says she wished to sign only in so 
far as the paper was examined by the clergy 
and the Church, and it was declared and in- 
sisted upon that it was her duty to sign. More- 
over, they had deceived her by the promise of 
an ecclesiastical prison to be given her after 
signing. She laughed while signing, said Man- 
chon. The same is repeated by Canon du 
Desert. It was said by many, affirms de Mailly, 



312 THE PRETENDED ABJURATION 

that the abjuration was only a mockery; that 
Joan laughed at it, and paid little attention to 
it, and did not consider it serious. She signed 
at the prayer of those present. The Process of 
Rehabilitation declares the abjuration "pre- 
tended, false, perfidious, extorted through fear, 
not seen beforehand nor understood by the 
Maid." 

After all this, it is hard to say that the Maid 
abjured. Massieu, who read the formula to 
her, testified, that in it Joan promised not to 
bear arms more, nor wear man's dress, nor her 
hair cut short, and many other things he did not 
remember. But he knew, he said, for certain 
that the entire formula was not more than eight 
lines, and that it was not that given in the Pro- 
cess. Taquel, the third notary, who was near 
and saw everything, gives the same testimony. 
So do La Chambre and Miget. 

The longer formula of abjuration given in the 
Process, which consists of some fifty lines, 
makes Joan accuse herself of ''mortal sin in 
lying about her revelation, and seducing by her 
stories, practising superstitious divination, 
blaspheming God and His Saints, violating the 
Divine Law, the Scripture, and Canon Law, 
wearing dissolute and indecent dress, cruelly 
shedding human blood, despising God and His 
Sacraments, causing sedition, adoring evil spir- 
its, becoming schismatic, and sinning in many 
other ways against the Faith. ' ' She is made to 
swear to St. Peter, to the Pope, and to Mon- 



THE PBETENDED ABJURATION 313 

seigneur of Beauvais — a curious combination 
and deceptive — never to return to the things 
condemned. 

One says naturally in reading this that a 
greater piece of knavery was never seen. No 
one with any knowledge of the trial would 
dream for a moment that this infamous docu- 
ment was honest. On the following Monday 
Joan would declare that she never meant to 
deny her revelations by the abjuration, and that 
she never knew such a thing was demanded of 
her. The minutes of Manchon have no word of 
this abjuration; the story was written a long 
time after. According to him, this long, fraud- 
ulent formula was written out at the instance 
of the assessors, after one of the sessions pre- 
ceding the scene in the cemetery. It begins 
with the words, ''Every one that has erred"; 
whereas, Taquel assures us the formula said 
to have been signed by Joan begins with ''I 
Joan — " 

The danger of relapse is spoken of at the be- 
ginning of the longer act of abjuration; and 
some have seen here an indication of a criminal 
plot to declare Joan relapsed should she again 
proclaim her mission, as she was sure to do ; for 
the bishop and his associates kn6w that Joan 
had no chance of life from the English. 

The second sentence, namely of condemnation 
to prison, was read by Bishop Cauchon instead 
of the first. ''Relying on the famous declara- 
tion of the University of Paris," it accuses 



314 THE PRETENDED ABJUEATION 

Joan more briefly of the excesses mentioned in 
the formula of abjuration; and condemns her 
''to perpetual imprisonment on the bread of 
affliction and water of sadness — " just plain 
bread and water. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

THE QUITTING AND BESUMPTION OF MALE ATTIRE 

IT was a flagrant violation of law and justice 
to deny to Joan inclosure in an ecclesiastical 
prison after her condemnation. She pitifully 
begged the fulfillment of the promise; but 
Bishop Cauchon said, "Take her back whence 
she came." The English, meanwhile, were ex- 
asperated by the less extreme sentence ; and on 
the way from the cemetery to the castle, Joan 
was the object of derision to the pages under the 
eyes of their masters. The leading English- 
men poured out invectives against the bishop 
and his doctors; they even unsheathed their 
swords. Warwick exclaimed, ''The king's bus- 
iness goes badly." To whom the answer was 
made, "Do not worry: we shall have her yet." 
On the same day, Thursday, Lemaitre, Midi, 
Loyseleur, Courcelles, La Pierre, and others, 
went to Joan's prison, to warn her she would re- 
ceive no mercy if she fell back, and to bid her 
put on woman's clothing. The official story is 
that Joan unhesitatingly obeyed — the story was 
written after, and in view of a pretended re- 
lapse. The bad faith of her judges shines lur- 
idly through all this. But much more through 

315 



816 QUITTING AND KESUMPTION OF MALE ATTIRE 

the brutal outrages committed on Joan in prison 
when she had resumed female attire. La 
Pierre was moved to pity at sight of her disfig- 
ured, tear-stained face. ' ' Much wrong and vio- 
lence was done her, ' ' he says. ' ' She was beaten 
and treated with violence," testifies Ladvenu; 
and a vile English milord — Warwick — at- 
tempted to violate her — in order, it would seem, 
to deprive her of her vaunted title of virginity. 
''She complained in a manner which aston- 
ished," says Toutmouille, ''of the oppres- 
sion and violence done her in prison by the 
guards and the men sent in to her." Joan de- 
clared publicly that it was on this account she 
resumed her former dress, which she did on 
the feast of the Blessed Trinity. 

Massieu testified in his triple deposition that 
woman 's dress was taken from her in the morn- 
ing, and male attire left near her. She asked in 
vain to have woman's dress returned. Having 
to leave the room, she was forced by the circum- 
stances to put on man's clothing. Afterwards 
she would not change, because, say Ladvenu 
and Manchon, of the danger to her purity. 
Joan was chained; without the connivance of 
the English soldiers she could not have taken 
her former attire. Friday or Saturday, when 
Cauchon learned she had re-assumed her for- 
mer clothing, he sent Beaupere and Midi to urge 
her to change. The key of the prison could not 
be found; and the English in the court-yard 
threatened to throw them into the river and 




EQUESTRIENNE STATUE OF JOAN OF ARC 



QUITTING AND EESUMPTION OF MALE ATTIRE 317 

pursued them when they ran away. Others had 
a like experience, and speak of from eighty to 
one hundred English soldiers present. From 
the accounts of brutality suffered by Joan, we 
may suppose that Warwick was not the only 
one guilty of bestiality. 



CHAPTER XL 

INTEE.EOGATORY OF MAY 28tH 

ON the morning after Holy Trinity, May 
28th, the judges Cauchon and Lemaitre, 
with La Pierre, verified in the prison Joan's 
change of dress. The bishop called, not assess- 
ors who were acquainted with the whole story 
of the alleged abjuration, but new men, thor- 
oughly acquired to the English side; and with 
these were taken the old henchmen of whom the 
Judge was sure. Manchon was so afraid to en- 
ter the castle, that he went under the safeguard 
of Warwick. The procedure which ensued can- 
not be called a trial; and the official account of 
it is evidently false. According to this, Joan 
acknowledged she had re-assumed her former 
dress without compulsion, and for the reason 
that it was more suitable in the presence of man 
— that, in fact, she had just taken it. Nor had 
she ever understood any oath said to have been 
taken to the contrary. Moreover she is repre- 
sented as saying, that she had acted thus, be- 
cause they had broken their promise to allow 
her to hear Mass, to receive Communion, and to 
be kept in a prison of the Church. Then she 
was made to say that she would submit to their 
decision if she be allowed these things, adding 

318 



INTBREOGATORY OF MAY 28tH 319 

the condition of a female companion in the 
prison. 

Manchon wrote this story; but his testimony 
is not the same at the trial of Rehabilitation. 
Then he testified that Joan gave, as the reason 
of her wearing the apparel of man, the sheer 
necessity of safeguarding her virtue, the viola- 
tion of which had been attempted by the guards. 
Neither had she "just taken" her former dress ; 
for she had assumed it on the preceding day. 
How shall we qualify the sentence that con- 
demned her to die by fire for thus protecting her 
innocence ? 

In the Process, which we regard now with 
particular suspicion, Joan says the Saints re- 
proached her with the great betrayal of her 
abjuration. Even such as it was according to 
the story, it may be admitted that Joan was 
not without fault. She had given occasion of 
scandal to many by even a seeming act of ab- 
juration. She was warned beforehand by her 
Saints, she is made to say, of the fault she 
would commit. They told her to answer the 
preacher boldly, for he preached falsehoods. 
And this is a very doubtful statement, to say 
the least of it. "If I say that God did not send 
me, I shall be lost." Her Voices told her to 
confess her fault. "And the crown?" some 
one puts in idiotically. She said she never in- 
tended to deny her revelations. Whatever she 
said or did in the cemetery was through fear 
of death by fire. But she "revoked nothing 



320 IN'TERROGATORY OF MAY 28tH 

that was true. I have done nothing against 
God or the Faith, whatever they made me re- 
voke. I did not understand what was in the 
paper of abjuration. At the moment of abjur- 
ing, I did not intend to renounce anything ex- 
cept in as far as it was displeasing to Our Lord. 
If the judges wish, I will take woman's dress; 
but for the rest I will do nothing. ' ' 

This official account is incoherent, and evi- 
dently truncated and confused. At the close, 
the bishop said, ''We left the said woman, de- 
termined to proceed against her in accordance 
with reason and law"; which says Father Ay- 
roles, were never more basely trodden under 
foot. As the bishop went out, he is reported to 
have called aloud to an English group there 
present, "Farowelle, farowelle; it is done; have 
good cheer." 



CHAPTER XLI 

THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 

ON" May 29th Bishop Cauchon convoked 
forty-one graduates in theology or law in 
the chapel of the archiepiscopal residence. 
They came to judge the accused in her absence ! 
The judge reviewed the work of ''the worthy 
mother, the University of Paris," and the oth- 
ers in the trial, and described Joan's "immov- 
able constancy in her damnable resolve." 
Then he tells the story of the abjuration and re- 
lapse in his own sense in a manner utterly un- 
just to Joan and false in fact. The opinion of 
those present being asked, Gilles Duremort, Ab- 
bot of Fecamp, recommended that the abjura- 
tion be again read and explained to Joan (a 
thing very significant) and an effort be made 
to make her repent. If she did not, then she 
might be handed over to the civil authority with 
a recommendation for mercy. Thirty-eight out 
of the forty-one assessors adopted the view of 
the abbot. On the following morning, since she 
could not before, Joan protested against the 
sentence. Tiphaine is set down as giving his 
vote, although he himself denied it afterwards, 
or said he remembered nothing of it. 

321 



322 THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 

Joan was summoned to appear on May SOth, 
the eve of the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, 
at eight o 'clock in the morning, in the old mar- 
ket place to hear her sentence. There was an 
early call at her prison. Between six and 
seven, John Toutmonille and Martin Ladvenu, 
Dominican priests, were sent to announce to 
Joan the bitter death she should that day un- 
dergo. She burst into piteous tears, aban- 
doned herself to uncontrollable emotion, and be- 
gan to tear her hair. ''Will they treat me so 
horribly?" she sobbed. ''And must my body 
which has never been violated be burned to 
ashes?" In the midst of her agonized sobbing, 
she continued, "I would prefer to be beheaded 
seven times than to be burned so." She la- 
mented most sorrowfully over all the wrong 
that had been done her; and as Cauchon en- 
tered, she exclaimed, "Bishop, I die through 
you." He was unabashed, and went on per- 
suading her to repent. In her unrestrained an- 
guish, she appealed to God against him. 

In what are called posthumous informations, 
we have various baseless stories of Joan's last 
hours. These are unsigned documents, inserted 
at the end of the official Process, and intended 
to lessen the guilt of Cauchon and his asso- 
ciates. In these it is made to appear that Joan, 
after condemnation, declared that her Voices 
had deceived her. The posthumous informa- 
tions are of absolutely no value, and are con- 
demned as such in the Rehabilitation trial. 



THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 323 

They contradict the sworn testimony of the 
witnesses to whom they are attributed. 

Ladvenu heard Joan's confession on that 
last morning of her life; and, in palpable self- 
stultification, Bishop Cauchon allowed Holy 
Communion to this relapsed and condenmed 
heretic ! The Blessed Sacrament was, it seems, 
to be brought, by another self- stultification, 
without stole or lights. At which Brother Mar- 
tin Ladvenu was indignant, and sent for a stole 
and lights. Joan received Holy Communion 
with intense devotion and ' ' a torrent of tears. ' ' 
After this the good friar remained with her to 
the end. 

Taquel, the notary, tells that Joan, on that 
morning of Communion, poured out her heart 
in such prayer to God, Our Lady, and the 
Saints, that even Loyseleur, amongst others, 
wept. As he went out, it is said, he was in dan- 
ger of being slain by the English soldiers. 

Joan passed out of the castle gate ; and in the 
midst of eight hundred English men-at-arms (ac- 
cording to Massieu), bearing axes and swords, 
proceeded to the place of execution. She wore 
the dress of her sex, and on her head a miter of 
mockery, or fool's cap, ornamented with the 
legend, ''Joan, who called herself the Pucelle, 
liar, dissolute, idolator, heretic," and other 
such fair words. A countless multitude {in- 
nombrable) had gathered from all the neighbor- 
ing country, says the bishop of Lisieu, and 
covered the roofs of the houses. 



324 TELE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION" 

On the way, Joan ' ' made such pious lamenta- 
tion," Massieu relates, ''that Brother Martin 
could not restrain his tears. She recommended 
her soul to God and the Saints so devoutly, that 
all who heard her wept. ' ' 

The official account says that the judges were 
in the market place, near the Church of St. 
Saviour, about nine o'clock. There were pres- 
ent with Bishop Cauchon two other bishops, de 
Luxembourg and de Mailly, with many other 
churchmen. Three stages had been erected — 
one for the judges, one for the prelates, and the 
fatal third for the wood to burn Joan. She 
was first made to ascend a scaffold, or elevated 
stage, in sight of all; and, ''for her salutary 
warning and for the edification of the people, a 
solemn sermon was delivered by the distin- 
guished doctor in theology, Nicolas Midi." He 
took his text from I Cor. xii, "If one member 
suffer anything, all the others suffer with it." 
Joan listened calmly to the discourse and the 
sentence. In this Cauchon accuses her of all 
crimes, possible and impossible, mentioned be- 
fore; especially of pretended repentance and 
relapse. And "in the name of the Lord, 
amen," he declares her a heretic, and cuts her 
off from the Church as a rotten member, and 
hands her over to the civil power. 

After the sentence, Joan gave way again to 
an agony of grief. She lamented and prayed. 
Touchingly loyal to the last, she said, that, 
whether her works were good or evil, her king 



THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 325 

was not to be blamed. She denied that she was 
a heretic or schismatic ; and she maintained the 
truth of her revelations to the last. Bishop de 
Mailly withdrew, in order not to see her die. 
As he went away, he saw many persons in tears. 
Ladvenu said that nearly all who saw her wept. 
The sentence pronounced, Joan descended 
from the stage on which she had been placed; 
and without any sentence having been pro- 
nounced by the civil authority she was led to the 
executioner, who received the brief command, 
''Do thy duty." Miget states that several 
English men-at-arms seized her, and led her, 
"with fury" to the pyre. The executioner told 
of the cruel binding to the stake on the plaster 
platform, which was so high that the flames 
hardly reached it; and this moved the rough 
man to much pity for Joan. She knelt, and 
with tears begged pardon of all, and uttered her 
forgiveness for those who were guilty of her 
death. She prayed much — for half an hour, 
it is said — with indescribable devotion. Of the 
priests she begged Masses for the repose of her 
soul. An English soldier, hearing her ask for 
a crucifix, made a cross of a piece of wood, and 
handed it to her. She pressed it most devoutly 
to her heart; but begged La Pierre to bring a 
crucifix from the neighboring church. This she 
embraced long, until they bound her. Then as 
the fire rose up, she bade the priest go down 
from the platform, and begged him to hold up 
the crucifix straight before her eyes until she 



326 THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 

died. She invoked her beloved Saints, and es- 
pecially St. Michael, who had been her life-long 
friends, and who had promised to lead her to 
Heaven from her victory of fire. They, who 
had come every day in her need, were with her 
now in the torturing flame, and quickly made 
her exult with triumph in the fiercest of all her 

battles. 

The English were growing harshly impatient 
for Joan's death and their own dinner. As 
Massieu was consoling her in her last agony, 
some of their captains cried out, "Priest, do 
you mean to have us dine here!" Some of 
them laughed at the death scene ; but many of 
them also wept. As the flames ascended, Joan 
never ceased to call aloud to ''her Lord" and 
her Saints. At last, as she bowed her head, and 
yielded up her pure soul to Grod, the sacred 
name of Jesus, uttered in a loud voice, was the 
last word on her lips. When the body was con- 
sumed, the English ordered the executioner to 
scatter the fire, so that the crowd could see 
where the ashes lay. And La Pierre deT30sed 
that this man, almost immediately after the ex- 
ecution, came to him and Ladvenu as if in des- 
pair. He told them that notwithstanding the 
oil, charcoal, and sulphur, thrown on them, the 
entrails and heart of Joan could not be burned 
— which he regarded as an evident miracle. He 
told another the heart was quite intact and full 
of blood. But he was ordered to gather up the 



THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION 327 

ashes, and with the heart and entrails throw 
them into the Seine. It was the last insult to 
one of the bravest, purest, noblest, that ever 
breathed our mortal air. 



CHAPTER XLII 

AFTER THE DEATH OF JOAN 

TRESSART, a secretary of the English king, 
cried out after Joan had died, ''We have 
hurnt a saint." It was the opinion of many. 
La Pierre testified that an Englishman, a bitter 
foe of the Maid, who swore he would himself 
lay a faggot on the fire to burn her, appeared, 
after witnessing her death, to be beside himself. 
He was taken into an inn near the old market 
to be cared for, and professed the deepest re- 
pentance, affirming that, at the last breath of 
Joan, he had seen a white dove issuing from 
the flames. 

A Dominican, Pierre Bosquier spoke against 
the sentence of death, and was called up before 
Bishop Cauchon as a favorer of heresy. He 
made public reparation, and was condemned to 
prison on bread and water. 

The prelate added his false posthumous in- 
formation to the official record of the trial. 
And in the name of the boy-king of England, 
letters were sent to all the Christian kings and 
princes containing a notoriously false account 
of Joan and her trial, in order that those noble 
personages ''might preserve the Christian 

328 



AFTER THE DEATH OF JOAN 329 

people from culpable superstitions. ' ' To those 
directly under the king a similar document was 
transmitted, with orders to publish it every- 
where. When this was done in Paris, the In- 
quisitor, a Dominican friar, at the end of a 
solemn procession, recounted in the same 
nefarious manner the life and death of Joan. 
The bad consciences of the judges, and of the 
accessories to the judicial murder, were 
more honest. They obtained from the English 
government letters of amnesty and protection 
for what they had done. The king promised to 
pay the expenses -of any who might be cited be- 
fore the Pope or the General Council; and, go- 
ing to a further extreme, calls on all his sub- 
jects to help the aforesaid persons ''against the 
Pope or the Council. ' ' 

The University of Paris wrote to the Pope, 
describing the great deed they had done 
against the mulierculam, "the despicable little 
woman," taken prisoner in the diocese of Beau- 
vais. They wrote also to the College of Car- 
dinals. The only thing worthy of notice in 
these letters is their impudence as contrasted 
with the obsequiousness which fills the Uni- 
versity's dispatches to the English king, to 
Philip of Burgundy, and John of Luxembourg. 

It was a common saying, testifies Boisguil- 
laume, the notary, that all who had part in the 
dark deed of Joan's condemnation were 
publicly noted, and that they -had an evil fate. 
One might, perhaps, hesitate to believe this. 



330 AFTER THE DEATH OF JOAN 

Yet the statement is not without truth. Midi 
died a leper, but some years after. Cauchon 
died suddenly while being shaved, ten years 
later. Bedford died at forty in Rouen, four 
years after the death of Joan. His wife, Anne 
of Burgundy, died at the age of twenty-eight, 
one year after Joan ; and the Duke 's hasty nup- 
tials with another led to an estrangement which 
turned Burgundy back to French allegiance, at 
the treaty of Arras, concluded at the time of 
Bedford's death. John of Luxembourg, who 
sold Joan, died without issue, ten years after 
her; and curiously enough, his widow had to 
put forward her loyalty to France, in order to 
save her states from confiscation. Luxem- 
bourg's nephew and heir was beheaded as a 
traitor. His brother, the bishop, became arch- 
bishop of Eouen and Cardinal, and perpetual 
administrator of the cathedral of Ely in Eng- 
land. But he died soon after John; and the 
house of Luxembourg was left without heirs. 
Erard, the preacher, pensioned by the English, 
died in exile amongst them eight years after 
Joan's martyrdom. Charles le Temeraine, 
the only legitimate son of Philip of Bur- 
gundy, perished tragically at the gates of 
Nancy, after the defeats of Granson and Morat, 
leaving an only daughter, who, by her marriage, 
transferred her vast estates to the Austrian 
Crown, and bequeathed two centuries of war to 
France. The Wars of the Roses avenged Joan 
of her English foes, from 1454 to 1485. It was 



AFTER THE DEATH OF JOAN 331 

a dark and dreadful history of assassination of 
princes and by them, of the slaughter of the 
nobility of England, and of her people. King 
Henry VT, the boy-king of Joan's story, lost 
the two crowns of France and England, and was 
assassinated in the Tower of London in 1471. 
The chief cause of all this evil to England was 
Warwick the ''king-maker," who married the 
heiress of the sonless Warwick of our story, 
and who was himself the son of the Earl of 
Salisbury, the English commander slain at Or- 
leans. Warwick ''the king-maker" was him- 
self slain at the Battle of Barnet. The 
Plantagenets yielded their thrpne to the 
ignobler Tudors, who, in the person of Henry 
VIII separated England from the unity of 
western Christendom a century after Joan's 
sacrifice. Finally, the holy mother University 
of Paris, grown more and more decadent, was 
clipped of its privileges, and like better-behaved 
people, was subjected to the authority of the 
French parliament by King Charles VII. 

Eegnault de Chartres, the non-resident arch- 
bishop of Eheims, remained until his death in 
1444 Chancellor of Charles VII. He was 
present at the Council of Constance; but had 
nothing to do with the factious assembly at 
Basle. To him and to Gerard Machet, the 
king's confessor, is attributed Charles VII 's 
fidelity to the true Pontiff, Eugene IV. But the 
archbishop was not free of blame for the evil 
legislation called the Pragmatic Sanction of 



332 AFTER THE DEATH OF JOAN 

Bourges, which fettered the Church of France, 
and brought so many evils in its train. 
Charles VII never would support the pseudo- 
Felix V, Duke of Savoy; and for this Eegnault 
de Chartres was proclaimed Cardinal in the 
Council of Florence in 1439. 

La Tremoille was hurled from power, two 
years after Joan's death, by Richemont, whose 
partisans took him from his bed at Chinon, 
while the king was there, and stabbed him 
dangerously in the affray. He had to disgorge 
some of his treasure for his ransom. He died 
in 1446. 




Juan the martyr 



CHAPTER XLIII 

DID JOAN DIE A MARTYR? 

THE sanctity of Joan and her Beatification 
do not rest on the question of her 
martyrdom. Her Canonization will be amply 
justified without it. Yet there are many de- 
fenders of her claim to the martyr's crown. 
Who dies for any virtue dies a martyr. Did 
she die for the preservation of her purity? 
The resumption of male attire for virtue 's sake 
was the direct cause of her condemnation. 
The larger cause was her refusal to abjure. 
But as far as the English were concerned, and 
the Burgundians, the cause of her death was 
her victorious campaign for France; and this, 
for her, was a work ordained by Heaven. For 
her mission she died. Would she have been 
spared if she abjured her Voices and her mis- 
sion, and quietly dropped out of sight? What- 
ever Cauchon might do — and he could not be 
trusted — the English would never have let the 
Maid go free ; nor, in all likelihood, have let her 
live even as a captive. The hate of her great 
foes in France — the University and its party — 
was caused by Joan's opposition to their am- 
bitions, plans, and plots. In the general tradi- 

333 



334 DID JOAN DIE A MAETYK? 

tion of Christians since her day, Joan is often 
spoken of as a martyr. Her Voices spoke of 
her martyrdom — and this is important to re- 
member. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

WHAT DID HER PAETY DO TO SAVE JOAN? 

AFTER abandoning Joan, it is not surprising 
that the poltroon Court of Charles VII 
made no effort to save her. Of her old com- 
panions in arms, only the undaunted La Hire 
and Xaintrailles attempted to rescue her at 
Rouen. They failed, and were made prisoners. 
Public prayers were offered for her at Orleans 
and other places, and collects were inserted in 
the Mass. The Bishop of Embrun urged 
Charles VII to spare no means or effort to save 
Joan. The Chronicle of Morosini says twice 
that Charles did make strenuous efforts with 
the Duke of Burgundy and the English, threat- 
ening terrible reprisals, especially on the women 
of England! The Chronicle, which is really a 
budget of news from various pens, is of very 
unequal value, and at times utterly absurd. 
Cauchbn and the University of Paris hint, in 
their murderous letters, of rumors that Charles 
VII was endeavoring to ransom Joan. But as 
far as historical documents go, it is hard to 
deny the statement, that neither king, court, 
nor captains, gave any sign of help. A few 
enemies were friendly ; but as for the rest, Joan 
of Arc in her passion was as completely aban- 
doned as her beloved Saviour was in His. 

335 



CHAPTER XLV 

THE REHABILITATION 

CHARLES VII entered Rouen on the 20th of 
November, 1449. Victory had made him 
grateful, or made him believe more firmly in 
Joan of Arc. On February 15th of the fol- 
lowing year, he appointed a commission to re- 
view and annul Joan's trial, now nearly nine- 
teen years after her death. In 1451 Cardinal 
d'Estouteville, sent as Legate by Pope Nicolas 
V to repair the evils of war and schism, and to 
unite England, France, and Savoy against the 
Turks, who were then threatening Constanti- 
nople, took up the work in the name of the 
Church. His examination of witnesses began 
at Rouen, as did that of Charles VII. Five 
years after, Pope Callixtus III appointed, at 
the petition of Joan's family, the commission 
to which is due her second trial, or Rehabilita- 
tion. 

Her father and oldest brother were dead. 
Her mother was living at Orleans, supported 
by the city. Near her was her second son, 
Pierre, who had been captured with Joan, and 
was long a prisoner. The Duke of Orleans 
gave him as his property the Ile-aux-Boeufs, 

336 



THE BEHABILITATION 337 

near Orleans in the Loire. John, his younger 
brother, and fellow-soldier, was provost of 
Vaucouleurs. A worthier Archbishop of 
Rheims, Jean Juvenal des Ursins, was made 
President of the commission, with two dele- 
gates, Guillaume Chartier, Bishop of Paris, and 
Richard Olivier, Bishop of Coutances. Evi- 
dence was taken in Domremy, Vaucouleurs, 
Rouen, Paris, and Orleans, for this justification 
of the name and fame of the Maid; and some of 
the most eminent ecclesiastics of the time were 
engaged in it. 

It was a strict and formal process of law. 
On November 7th, Joan's aged mother and her 
two brothers presented themselves in mourning 
in the cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris. 
Great ladies gathered round the mother, 
broken with years and sorrow ; and the highest 
nobles of France encircled her sons. A large 
and brilliant body of ecclesiastics accompanied 
the archbishop of Rheims and Jean Brehal, the 
Inquisitor. The mother and sons knelt in tears 
before the Prelates, and read with sobs the 
Pontifical Rescript addressed to them. The 
emotion in the church spread quickly to the mul- 
titude outside, so that the commission was 
obliged to hold its session in the sacristy. 

On the 17th of November, the formal work 
of the commission was opened. The University 
of Paris sent its advocate, the famous Mangier, 
to induce the commission to confine its indict- 
ment to the two judges of Joan and the pro- 



338 THE REHABILITATION" 

moter. The Bishop who condemned her was 
dead. Whether his associate, Lemaitre, was 
alive or not, no one seemed to know. Estivet 
had long gone to his account. It was a time of 
amnesty; and the University recreants, as well 
as others, were shielded. 

The commission proceeded to hold sessions in 
Rouen with the utmost publicity and solemnity. 
Then appeared the heirs of Bishop Cauchon; 
not to defend his memory, but to safeguard 
their inheritance. The witnesses, many of 
whom had not been guiltless in Joan's first 
trial, now condemned it unconditionally. 
Times had changed, and allegiance with them; 
and the lavish English expenditure of money, 
which played so decisive a part in throwing 
Joan into the flames, had long since ceased. 

No trace could be discovered of the informa- 
tions taken at Domremy by order of Bishop 
Cauchon ; so they were now taken anew by the 
Papal commission. Old friends of Joan re- 
appeared. Her godmothers and godfathers, 
her companions, priests who had known her, 
Laxart her uncle, nobles of her neighborhood, 
John de Metz, who had been made by Charles 
VII Lord of Novelomport, and Bertrand de 
Poulengy, her guide through France. Deposi- 
tions. at Orleans and Paris recall the triumphant 
career of the Maid. D'Aulon, her noble 
guardian, was heard at Lyons. Paquerel, her 
confessor; Louis Coutes, her page; Dunois the 
brave ; Gaucourt and other companions in arms 



THE KEHABILITATION" 339 

and victory; and noble d'Alengon, her com- 
mander-in-chief. 

The history of Joan's passion and martyrdom 
are due entirely to the Pontifical commission. 
Here we have the invaluable testimony of Man- 
chon, Massieu, Ladvenu, and La Pierre. Even 
Oourcelles testified at Paris, although his 
memory, like his conscience, failed him sadly. 
In all, one hundred and twenty-one witnesses 
contributed to paint the chaste and peerless 
picture of the Maid. 

The sentence of Rehabilitation was pro- 
nounced on July 7th, 1456 ; first before a small 
audience in the great hall of the archiepiscopal 
residence at Rouen; and inunediately after, 
with splendor in the cemetery ; and on the mor- 
row, the 8th, with like pomp in the old market 
place. It '^annulled the process of condemna- 
tion, the abjuration, the sentence, and all the 
effects that followed therefrom"; and restored 
the name and fame of the dead Joan, to be wor- 
shiped through the years. On the 20th of 
July it was promulgated in Orleans; and both 
cities erected monuments to the heroine. 
These were wrecked by the Huguenots and by 
the revolutionists of 1789. 



CHAPTER XLVI 

JOAN THEOUGH THE VISTA OF THE YEARS 

LIKE all true fame, this everlasting and un- 
paralleled personification of virtue, re- 
ligion, patriotism, loyalty, and noble war, has 
grown greater with the years. She was at the 
heart of the social and political life of a great 
people, and her France never can forget, and 
never has forgotten. She was always glorified 
by Catholics, and even by Protestants. Her 
Rehabilitation was really the foundation of her 
canonization. Orleans, the freed, honored her 
annually by a solemn festival and procession. 
She was venerated as a Saint in local martyr- 
ologies. The question has often been asked, 
why was she not canonized sooner? Rome does 
not introduce causes of canonization unless 
solicited; she moved when France petitioned. 
The fame and power of the University of Paris, 
the reconciliation of Burgundy with the king, 
unwillingness to offend Catholic England, the 
character of the court and courtiers of Charles 
Vn — all contributed to the delay. It was only 
in our own day the question of Joan's 
canonization was really taken up. In 1869 Mgr. 
Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, supported by 

340 



JOAN THROUGH THE VISTA OF THE YEARS 341 

twelve other Bishops, petitioned Pope Pius IX 
to canonize the peerless Joan. The movement 
spread and deepened, due not a little to the 
advocacy of Bishops Pie and Freppel. In 1886 
hundreds of bishops from many countries urged 
the cause of Joan at Rome. Cardinal Howard 
succeeded Cardinal Bilio as ponent of the 
beatification of the warrior Maid. 



CHAPTER XLVII 

Joan's beatification 

EGUN by Bishop Dupanloup, a preparatory 
investigation was continued at Orleans 
from 1874 to 1888; and the cause was intro- 
duced at Rome, under Leo XIII, in January, 
1894. In the examination of the heroicity of 
Joan's virtues, came up the question of the 
abjuration at Rouen. That it was no real ab- 
juration was admitted by the Congregation of 
Rites in November, 1901 ; and the decree of 
heroicity was published under Pius X in 1904. 
The proof of the three required miracles was 
admitted in December, 1908. The first in order 
of presentation was the instantaneous cure at 
Orleans in 1900 of a Benedictine, Sister Teresa, 
after a novena made in honor of Joan of Arc. 
The nun suffered from ulcer of the stomach 
for three years, and was at the point of death. 
The second occurred in 1893 in the little town 
of Faverolles, in the diocese of Evreux. Sister 
Julie, of the Sisters of Providence, suffering 
greatly from ulcer of the breast, was carried to 
the church to invoke Joan of Arc, and was cured 
the same day. The third miracle happened in 
Fruges, a small town in the diocese of Arras. 

342 



Joan's beatification and canonization 343 

Sister Jeanne Marie, of the Congregation of 
the Holy Family, was afflicted with hopeless 
tuberculosis of the bones. On the fifth day of 
her prayer to Joan she was cured. 

It was on the Feast of the Holy Family, Jan- 
uary 24th, 1909, that Joan was beatified by Pope 
Plus X. And finally, on March 18th, 1919, in 
the Vatican Hall of the Consistory, thirteen 
Cardinals and twenty-two Consultors recorded 
their placet to Joan's canonization and Pope 
Benedict XV asked for prayers that his decision 
might be enlightened by the Holy Ghost. This 
decision was announced by His Holiness on 
March 26th to be in the affirmative. As an inevi- 
table sequel the canonization of Joan was as- 
sured. 



CHAPTER XLVin 

CANONIZATION — ST. JOAN OF AEO 

TTIhe immortality of the saints does not con- 
J[ sist only in everlasting life : it endures 
forever on earth. And not in the heavenly 
fame of sanctity, nor in the unceasing inspira- 
tion of their exalted lives, but in their presence, 
and their living influence for good-^' * they shall 
judge nations, and rule over people" (Wis. iii, 
8). Perhaps to Joan, too, is given that realm of 
France, which she fought so gloriously to save, 
as '*the Father hath disposed" it, according to 
her, to Him whom she served so nobly (St. 
Luke, xxii. 29). Even now they are proclaim- 
ing her '*the Saint of France" — no longer sim- 
ply the Maid. Stranger still, her ancient foes 
of Albion, whom she never hated; the Scots, 
who fought with her — a mighty host, join with 
enthusiastic France, with drum and cannon, 
which she loved — join in measureless proces- 
sion, to enwreathe her statues, and proclaim her 
praise, as if victory even now were due to her. 
All this is happening as the bells of peace are 
ringing after five years of world-war. Joan 
has been much invoked during the anguish, 
blood, and tears of these dark and fateful days. 

344 



CANONIZATION — ST. JOAN OF ARC 345 

Explain it how we may, the tide of invasion 
rolled no farther than that battle line traced by- 
Joan on the Mense, Marne, and Oise. 

Joan's immortality has grown with time, until 
now, when, after 500 years, the Church, which 
was to her indeed the kingdom of God, and its 
head, to whom she appealed from the unjust 
and immolating fire of Kouen, have set upon her 
the imperishable crown of sainthood. For the 
treason of the captains and the unworthy cler- 
ics, for rejection like that of the Master, for the 
vile insult and brutal captivity, for calumny 
and death-dealing condemnation, for ignominy 
and the remorseless flame, comes the crown of 
life and light at last. To-morrow France will 
light her festal fires, and wreathe her fading 
garlands, and sound all her joyous bells and 
warlike bugles amidst the thunder of her can- 
nons, for Joan; while Domremy, Orleans, and 
Rouen will thrill with joy: and perhaps some 
angel will give back again to the ancient abbey 
of St. D'enis her sword and banner, and white, 
untarnished armor. Eome has spoken the last 
word — Joan is the * * Saint of France, ' ' although 
the solemn proclamation is reserved a few days 
more, till stricken France can recollect herself 
in joy. 

The process of Joan's canonization was ac- 
complished much more quickly than was antici- 
pated. Her French advocates evidently has- 
tened the great affair on account of the horrible 
war and its foreseen conclusion. For it was 



346 CANONIZATION — ST. JOAN OF ABO 

easy to see how much the faith of Catholic 
France would benefit by the canonization of the 
Warrior Maid. 

^At Rome, on the 27th of March, 1919, there 
was a general assembly of the Congregation of 
Rites at the Vatican in presence of the Pope, to 
examine the miracles presented for the canon- 
ization. There were present thirteen Cardinals 
and twenty Consultors, in a session which lasted 
three hours. On the following Wednesday, His 
Holiness announced his decision: he accepted 
the miracles, and communicated the decisive 
fact to Cardinal Amette. On April 6th, the De- 
cree of acceptance was soleninly read in the Hall 
of Consistory. It was filled with invited guests, 
especially from France. Amongst these were 
the representatives of 200,000 widows of the 
great war, who had come to pledge to the Holy 
See the loyalty of the bereaved mothers and 
their children. It was Passion Sunday, and 
well it befitted the tragedy of the Maid and of 
France. 

The Holy Father made a beautiful address, 
to which the eloquent Bishop of Orleans, Mgr. 
Touchet, responded. One of the miracles, the 
cure of Teresa Belin, had occurred at Lourdes, 
but at the intercession of Joan, thus linking, in 
French hearts, the Immaculate Mother with the 
Virgin Warrior. 

The Acta S. Sedis of May 1st published the 
Decree, in which the Holy Father recalled the 
injustice which men so often commit in the name 



- CANONIZATIOK ST. JOAN OF ARC 347 

of patriotism. Abusing the word, they con- 
demn, as hostile to their country, the Catholic 
Church, which makes patriotism .a virtue. The 
heroic Joan of Arc was the type of Christian 
patriotism. Yet her marvelous deeds had been 
foolishly attributed to natural causes, whereas 
her whole career lucidly proved the contrary. 

On Sunday, May 18, 1919, Paris hastened to 
honor the ''Saint of the Fatherland." Two 
hundred thousand were in procession, yet the 
vast multitude was in perfect order. There 
were delegations from Alsace-Lorraine and 
from Poland; from the Union of Fathers and 
Mothers (of the Slain) ; from the Veterans of 
sea and shore ; from the National Federation of 
old soldiers, the Naval League, the Patriotic 
League of Frenchwomen, from the School As- 
sociation; there were deputies and municipal 
councilors at the head of the League of Patriots, 
with officers, soldiers, and boy scouts. 

Through vast applauding multitudes the long 
line advanced. The statues of Joan on the 
route were covered with rich garlands, while 
the working people offered their lowlier bou- 
quets. The whole way was brilliant with the 
flags of France and her allies. 

The national celebration was on June 1st, 
Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension, 
which is the day of Joan's festival since her 
beatification. The capital again hung out its 
flags ; the churches and many private houses dis- 
played the banner of Joan. At Orleans the 



348 CANONIZATION ST. JOAN OF ARC 

British troops, headed by a Scottish band, took 
part in the procession and placed wreaths on 
Joan 's monument, while an English Commander 
made an address. 

Commenting on the national festival, an Eng- 
lish Protestant newspaper said: ''As an histor- 
ical and mystical figure, Joan of Arc occupies 
a unique position in the annals of France. Her 
name is the inspiration of her country ; her life 
and deeds, one of the great romances of his- 
tory. . . . The summit of her achievement was 
(her purity of character and simple patriotism:^ 
these have become the great inspiration of 
France." 



THE END 



508 



PRINTED BT BEVZIGER BROTHERS, KEW TORK. 



